


Love and War

by The_Shadow



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aurors, Drama, F/F, Femslash, Paranoia, Post Half-Blood Prince, Romance, Slow Burn, Snatchers, Suspense, War, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 145,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23454448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shadow/pseuds/The_Shadow
Summary: Pansy always thought she'd be able to avoid the war. But when she comes home after her 6th year and finds Death Eaters have taken over her home, she realizes the war has come for her anyway. Faced with a threat to her friends, her family and her way of life-and seeing a chance to get ahead-Pansy makes the choice to fight.
Relationships: Pansy Parkinson/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	1. Prologue: Another First Year

Though she had grown up with magic, Pansy Parkinson couldn't help but gasp with amazement the first time she saw Diagon Alley on August 31, her 11th birthday. Her parents preferred to do business in Knockturn Alley and had only rarely taken her with them, so her experience with wizarding Britain was limited. But the best wands came from Ollivander's and her mother said only the best would do, so she announced that they'd be going to Diagon Alley as a birthday present.

As far as Pansy was concerned, it was the best place in the world. Where Knockturn Alley had been dark and quiet, and it's inhabitants secretive, Diagon Alley was the exact opposite. Full of sights and sounds, Pansy's head turned widely trying to take in everything at once.

If she had had her way, Pansy would have dragged her mother straight to Ollivander's to get her wand, but she insisted on getting everything else on her school list first. So Pansy had to be patient through a fitting at Madam Malkin's, through dozens of shops, getting supplies and books and lunch. By the time they began heading to Ollivander's, she was so excited and frustrated she was ready to burst.

“Guinevere Parkinson,” said an old man who must have been Mr. Ollivander as they entered his shop. “Vine and phoenix feather, 12 ½ inches, rigid. Good for combat.”

Mrs. Parkinson smiled slightly and said, “How nice of you to remember.”

“I remember every wand I’ve ever sold. Just Like I'll remember yours,” he said, turning to Pansy.

“I'll leave you two alone,” Mrs. Parkinson said. “Pansy, be good for Mr. Ollivander while I go run an errand.”

“What errand?” Pansy called after her mother as she left the store.

“None, I suspect,” said the old man as he flicked his wand at a measuring tape on the counter in front of him. It animated and began measuring every imaginable length of her body. “It's traditional for parents to leave their children alone for the wand choosing. It's a very personal moment and giving privacy is good form.”

“Oh,” Pansy said with a nod, though she didn't really understand. “What's this for?” she asked, noticing that the tape measurer seemed to be measuring the space between her nostrils.

“Knowing how big a witch or wizard will be at their peak can help narrow down the right wand, though small wizards don't necessarily get short wands, or visa versa. Mr. Moody favored a 15 inch wand until he got his staff and he was on the shorter side.” He pondered for a minute, then said, “That will do,” sending the tape away with another flick.

“Now,” he continued, walking back to the shelves that made up the lion's share of his store, “let's see what we can find.”

He darted around quickly as if looking for a specific wand. Finally, he picked out a long box and walked back to her, opening it as he went.

He pressed the wand into her hands and said, “Mahogany and unicorn hair hair, 9 inches. Go on, give it a wave.”

Pansy did as she was told, but she had barely lifted it before Mr. Ollivander snatched it away and dashed off to find another. The little man seemed quite pleased.

Pansy didn't know how many wands she was made to try. Certainly at least fifty, judging by the pile that quickly grew upon his counter. This didn't seem to frustrate him at all, as it did Pansy, however. Indeed, the longer it went on, the more ecstatic he became.

He was practically giddy when he handed her, “Hawthorn and dragon heartstrings. 13 ¾ inches. Nice and rigid. Try!”

The moment she took it, Pansy knew she had found her wand. Even before she waved it, it felt like an extension of her, as if her arm was finally complete. For good measure, she gave it a wave, producing an impressive display of white sparks.

“Good show!” Ollivander cheered, taking the wand from her to wrap it up.

Once he was finished, both with that and with getting her wand polish and a holster, he turned to her, fixing her with a serious gaze.

“This wand will serve you well, but it may be some time before you truly master it.”

Pansy was confused. “But it felt so right!” she objected.

“Of course it did. It's your wand. But Hawthorn wands tend to choose-yes, the wand chooses-witches or wizards with a conflicted nature or who will face conflict. Until you resolve that, you and your wand will never reach your full potential.”

Pansy frowned and was about to ask for a different wand. She didn't want to go to Hogwarts with one the was under-powered.

Perhaps Mr. Ollivander read her mind or maybe he'd had this conversation before, because he said, “You needn't worry, young miss. Your wand will perform just as admirably as any other at Hogwarts. And one day, when you resolve your conflict, you will be capable of great things.”

Pansy nodded in understanding.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. They looked to see Mrs. Parkinson through the window, a questioning look on her face. Apparently she'd been waiting for their conversation to end.

Pansy turned back to the old wizard and asked, “Should I tell her what you said?”

“That, my dear, is entirely up to you.”

She decided, as her mother came into buy her things, that she wouldn't and she was very thankful that she didn't ask.

  


That night, Pansy crept out of her bed to her already packed trunk. Her parents had sent her to bed early, wanting her well-rested for her first night at Hogwarts, but Pansy was dying to try her wand once more.

Though it was illegal for underage witches to do magic at home, there was little the ministry could do to stop the children of wizarding families and Pansy's parents had let her try some simple spells with their wands. She'd never had much success though and now that she had her own wand, she couldn't resist trying again.

Wand in hand, she softly said, “ _Lumos_ ,” and knelt in front of her trunk, using the light to find her first book of magic, _The Standard Book of Spells: Year 1_.

She snuck back into bed and under the covers, so as to hide the light from her parents if they walked by. She flipped through the pages, looking at all the spells trying to decide on one. Finding none that could be done in bed and in the dark, she settled on Lumos' counter-spell.

“ _Nox_ ,” she whispered, flicking her wand slightly. To her delight, the glow at the tip of her wand went out. It was a simple spell, she knew, but it felt like an accomplishment nonetheless.

After putting her book and wand on the bedside table, she curled up closed her eyes, pleased with herself. She decided she would try as many spells as she could on the train.

  


Her parents fussed over her on the platform the next morning. Her mother, close to tears, hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.

“Be good,” she said. “And study hard. And write every week.”

Her father hugged her too, slipping her a small money purse.

“Don't spend it all on sweets,” he whispered to her.

Just then the train whistle started blowing and Pansy had to hurriedly grab her trunk and run on to the Hogwarts Express. After putting her trunk in a car with all the others, Pansy dashed into the first empty compartment, threw open the window and waved to her parents.

“I'll miss you!” she called out to them.

They waved back, but what they said she never knew, because the trained pulled away and the sound drowned them out.

The rest of the journey was much less exciting. Her compartment was empty until Draco Malfoy and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle, asked if they could join her and she agreed. She knew Draco, though not very well, from parties and he'd always been nice to her. Crabbe and Goyle she hadn't met, but they were with Draco, so they must be ok.

They chatted idly for a few hours about everything from quidditch to their new classes, until they heard a rumor that Harry Potter was on the train and the boys went off to investigate. Draco asked her if she wanted to come too, but Pansy said no. It wasn't that she wasn't curious. Like everyone else she wanted to see the boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but she knew parents wouldn't approve of gawking. “Such behavior is unbecoming of a young lady,” they'd say. There would be plenty of time to catch a glimpse of him when they were at school.

She didn't have to wait long for her friends to come back. They weren't gone ten minutes before they returned, Draco fuming and Goyle nursing a bite on his finger. Pansy thought this an excellent opportunity to try out some more magic and pulled out her wand. She tried to remember a spell her mother used on her scraped knee after she'd fallen from the tree she'd been climbing. Goyle's finger didn't look any different after she tried the spell, but he said it felt a bit better, so she put her wand away, beaming.

She tried to asked Draco what had happened, but he seemed to have lost interest in the young hero. “Forget about Potter,” was all she could get out of him before he went back to sulking.

  


At long last, the train pulled into the Hogsmeade station. The older students piled into the horseless carriages, but first years were directed into boats by a giant of a man she heard someone call Hagrid and crossed a huge lake.

She got her first view of Hogwarts crammed into a small boat with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. Despite her discomfort, all her attention was focused on the giant fortress. It looked just like she imagined it, with dozens of towers and thousands of windows, many of which showed warm, comforting light. If the inside was impressive as the outside, it might replace Diagon Alley in Pansy's mind as her favorite place.

The tiny boats carried them straight to a door on the edge of the lake, where severe-looking old witch was waiting for them. She led them into a room that Pansy was certain was bigger than her entire house. The witch, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, droned on about things like houses, and rules and points, but Pansy was only half-paying attention. She was too excited, straining to hear the sounds coming from a nearby room.

Pansy barely noticed when McGonagall left and her concentration was only broken when several ghosts floated in through the walls. They were talking about Peeves, whoever that was, and arguing over whether they should give him a “second chance.” The ghosts were nearly through the room before they noticed the children.

“First years?” a fat and friendly-looking monk asked. Several nodded and a handful of the brave ones said, “Yes,” but few dared to do anything but stare in shock.

“Hope to see you in Hufflepuff,” the monk said. “My old house, you know.”

The ghost then returned to their conversation, leaving the children to chat among themselves once they were gone.

They didn't have much time to discuss what happened, because McGonagall chose that moment to return. She led them single file into the castle's great hall and stood them at the front, facing four long tables, one for each house Pansy imagined. The older students were already seated and all eyes were on the first years.

A gnarled old man with a limp brought out a small, wooden stool with a decrepit-looking hat on the seat. This, as Pansy knew, was the sorting hat. She'd overheard people saying you had to wrestle a troll, but her parents had told her all about the sorting ceremony. So she wasn't surprised when the hat opened its mouth and started singing:

  


_“Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can top them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a steady mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!”_

  


While many of the first years looked relieved, Pansy frowned. The hidden things in her head were that way for a reason. There were things she wasn't ready to face yet.

But before she could object, McGonagall called the first name. Hannah Abbott soon became the first new Hufflepuff.

Pansy stood through the ceremony, as scared as she had ever been. She was barely aware of the students getting sorted, except for Crabbe, Goyle and Draco who all became, unsurprisingly in Malfoy's case, Slytherins.

Finally it became time for Pansy to be sorted. She felt she was going to be sick, but a proper young lady never showed weakness, especially a Parkinson, so she walked forward with as much confidence as she could muster, sat down on the stool and let McGonagall place the hat on her head.

“Another tricky one,” said a voice in her head. Pansy mentally panicked. If only she could keep her thoughts private. She overheard someone at a ball talking about magic like that. Why hadn't her parents taught her?

“My but you're clever,” said the voice, clearly amused. “But fear not, There are a number of spells to prevent me from saying anything I learn.

“Now where to put you? Hmm...You're definitely intelligent. Loyal. And you've got the courage of a lion, I daresay.”

She sat there while the Sorting Hat weighed her various attributes. With all eyes on her she realized how truly alone she felt. No family, no close friends, no one.

She made a decision: choose a house and let the runes fall where they may. In her head, she demanded, “Put me in Slytherin.”

“Slytherin, eh? Very interesting. And not my first choice either. And yet, now that I think on it, I rather think you'll do well there. Very well then, SLYTHERIN.” It yelled the final word to the hall. Relieved, Pansy hopped off the stool as soon as the hat was off her head and walked to the Slytherin with applause.

She chose a seat between Draco and blonde haired girl who introduced herself as Daphne Greengrass and whom Pansy was surprised to learned was only a first year. They chatted quietly through that rest of the ceremony, stopping only to see Harry Potter get sorted.

Small and thin, he looked nothing like what either girl imagined. The Sorting Hat seemed to have as much trouble with him as it did with Pansy and she wondered briefly if it wasn't going to put him in Slytherin too. Wouldn't that be the funniest irony in the world, the savior of the wizarding world in the house of villains. But the young hero was, as could have been expected, was placed in Gryffindor and Pansy lost interest in the ceremony, save for the new Slytherins.

At long last, the headmaster Dumbledore said a few words about rules and painful death for disobeying them, and the students were allowed to eat. Pansy hadn't felt hungry since breakfast, but the minute she started eating she couldn't stop. It seemed the rest of the students were the same, because all conversation ceased for fifteen minutes while they ate as much as the could.

Once the wolves of hunger had been beaten back a bit, chatter resumed. Pansy smiled, all apprehension gone. She felt at home with these people she'd only just met.

Apparently seeing the meal wrapping up, the headmaster dismissed the students, allowing the prefects to lead the first years to their houses.

“Come with me, Slytherins!” called an older girl with short brown hair. Pansy got up with the rest of the first years, grabbing one last roll, and followed her out of the Great Hall. She led them on a winding path, down staircases, behind tapestries, through secret passages and even doubling back a few times. Pansy wondered how in the name of Circe she was expected to remember all this, but she supposed she'd learn in time.

In the end, they came to a portrait of a thin, old wizard.

“Hello, Nick,” said the prefect.

“Greetings, Gemma. Password?”

“Beginnings.”

The painting shifter to the side, revealing an archway.

“Welcome to the Slytherin dungeon,” the prefect said, leading them through to a large common room. She turned around and continued, “I'm Gemma Farley. I'm just going to go over a few things and then you can all go to bed. First, the password changes every fortnight, so be sure to keep an eye on the bulletin board. Second, stay up as long as you need to but it down after ten. And finally, and most importantly, remember that you're all Slytherins and you're expected to act like it, You don't have to like all of your housemates, but if you have a problem with someone here, keep it to yourself in public. Out there, we're a united front. And remember, you can always come to me, one of the other prefects or Professor Snape if you have a problem.

“Alright, that'll get you through tomorrow. We'll meet again this weekend after you've had some time to settle in.” She glance at the clock and said, “Alright. There's no curfew inside the common room, so you don't have to go to bed. Just be quiet for the people who are trying to sleep.”

The prefect got up and went down a staircase that Pansy assumed led to the girls dorms. She and most of the other girls followed her.

The stairs led to a large circular room, with several doors each labeled for a year. Pansy and the other girls from her year entered their designated room. There they found their things next to their beds. Pansy quickly found her bed and after saying goodnight to Daphne, changed and went to bed. She barely had time to look forward to the next day before she fell asleep.

  


Pansy awoke early the next morning and was surprised to find that many of the other girls had too, as eager to get started as she was.

She grabbed a clean uniform and the things she needed for a shower and went to find the bathroom. She ran into Gemma just outside the dormitory door, who Pansy noticed was wearing a tight bathrobe and pointed Pansy showers.

Pansy was relieved that there were shower stalls for each girl. She was afraid she would have to shower in front of her housemates, as she had heard the boys did.

She bathed quickly, anxious to explore the castle. In her hurry, she threw her towels on her bed and was still trying to put on her tie when she walked up the stairs to the common room.

Daphne was already there, apparently waiting for her. She stood up and said, “Morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Do you want to go to breakfast?” she asked, a little shyly.

“Alright,” she agreed. “And when class is over, we can go exploring. I want to see everything.”

Daphne nodded, visibly relieved. The ice broken, the two chatted happily and by the time they reached the great hall, they were best friends.

  


Their first class of the day was with Professor Flitwick and the Hufflepuffs. Pansy and Daphne arrived in the charms classroom a few minutes early and picked two seats next to each other. Flitwick wasn't there and only came in just before the bell rang. Pansy had to resist the urge to giggle at the sight of the tiny professor, who was clearly part dwarf.

The lesson wasn't as exciting as she and the rest of the first years had hoped. Instead of starting on magic right away, Professor Flitwick started with attendance, before passing out and explaining the syllabus and finally ending on a short lecture on wand safety.

The rest of her classes went on the same way and not even the promise of magic soon was enough to keep her attention through essentially the same lesson over and over again.

Which is not to say everything about her classes had been boring. Professor Flitwick had made several books on his desk fly and even the stern Professor McGonagall had, after some begging, turned her desk into a pig and back. Still, Pansy was relieved when classes ended and left immediately with Daphne to explore the castle.

They started by climbing to the seventh floor and working their way down. They marveled at what they saw. There were moving stairs and talking portraits, ghosts and secret passages. There was even a wall pretending to be a door.

When they got to the third floor, Daphne dared Pansy to walk down the corridor Dumbledore had warned them about. Pansy, eager to show off to her new friend, boldly walked down the hall. But she only got halfway, before she heard cackling coming from the corner ahead of her and ran back.

It turned out to be Peeves, who was a poltergeist and greeted the girls by throwing erasers at them. They had to run down to the second floor to escape him.

They decided to get dinner after that, before continuing their adventure and made their way to the Great Hall. Pansy was barely aware of what she was eating and the two girls finished well before the other Slytherins, and rushed back up to the second floor.

For all the things she'd seen over the past-was it really only three days?-the thing that had the most profound effect on her happened near the end of her tour of the school.

On the second floor they found a small store, run by some of the older students, that sold basic school supplies like quills and parchment, as was as some of the more popular sweets. As the girls both had been given pocket money, they decided to celebrate their first year and treat themselves.

They enjoyed themselves looking over the various candies and ink colors. Pansy splurged, buying a bottle of color-changing ink as well as a Pumpkin Pasty, while Daphne bought a larger box of Bertie Botts' Every Flavored Beans. They were leaving, enjoying their treats when _She_ walked in.

She was the strangest looking girl Pansy had ever seen. Instead of her uniform, which she must have changed out of after classes, she wore a lime green shirt with the words “The Weird Sisters” emblazoned tight across her chest and an equally snug pair of ripped blue jeans. She must have been at least a halfblood, because no respectable pureblood family would let their daughter out of the house with the alarming shade of pink the girls' hair now sported, let alone spiked. And that wasn't the only thing. Pansy was quite certain her mother would kill her if _she_ came home with her eyebrow pierced.

But no one else seemed to care, certainly not her friends, who were laughing loudly and now Pansy could see why. So focused on the rest of the girl, Pansy hadn't seen the girls face. She was amusing her friends by changing her nose into different shapes. Now it was a pig snout. Now it was a duck bill. At first Pansy thought it might be a glamour charm, like the ones her mother used before parties, but she couldn't see a wand.

“Look out, I think you scared a firstie,” said one of her friends, a tall red headed boy.

Grinning widely, the girl walked over and knelt down in front of Pansy and turned her face into a perfect mirror of the younger girl.

“Better?” she asked.

Pansy didn't trust herself to speak and simply nodded.

“What's your name?”

“Pansy Parkinson,” she squeaked out,

“Nice to meet you, Pansy. My name's Tonks.”

“Tell her your real name,” another boy said with a laugh.

Tonks shot him a look and said, “Shut it, Weasley.” But she was smiling again when she turned back to Pansy. She held out her hand and Pansy shook it shyly.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” Tonks said with a wink, before getting up and rejoining her friends.

Pansy didn't wait to see if Tonks ever changed her face back. She just wanted to be somewhere else. When she was certain Tonks wasn't looking, she ran out of the shop and into the first empty classroom she could find to collect herself.

Even if she hadn't been told, she would have remembered who Tonks was soon enough. How many times had she heard Auntie Narcissa at parties complain about her blood-traitor sister and her half-breed niece. Tonks was a metamorphmagus and something like Pansy's fourth cousin, seven times removed.

“Are you alright?” Daphne asked, coming in and sounding worried.

“I'm fine,” she answered in a voice she knew wasn't convincing.

“Who was that?”

“My cousin or something like that,” Pansy answered truthfully. “My parents warned me about her, but I wasn't expecting to actually see her.”

That last bit wasn't true, but she couldn't tell Daphne that. She didn't even know what the truth was. She had no idea why she had reacted like that to the older girl.

“Are you sure you're ok? You look all hot and bothered. Maybe we should go to the hospital wing.”

“No. I promise I'm fine. Let's just go back to the common room. Ever play Exploding Snap? I got a deck for Christmas last year.”

Daphne didn't press her further, a quality Pansy would appreciate many times over the next six years, and never brought the incident up again. But Daphne Greengrass wasn't a stupid girl and Pansy couldn't keep her strange behavior from her best friend.

  


It all started the night after the incident. After a few games of Exploding Snap, Daphne announced that she was tired and wanted to go bed. Pansy was sure it was for her benefit, but she went along with it anyway.

She regretted it almost immediately. She'd been able to put Tonks from her mind during the game, but in bed she had no distraction from her thoughts.

Try as she might, Pansy couldn't understand why the older girl affected her that way. But despite her confusion, Pansy smiled at the memory of the girl. Tonks seemed to be everything Pansy wished she was: pretty, popular and talent.

Smart, too, she learned after some observation.

She never followed the older girl. She didn't stalk Harry Potter and she wasn't about to stalk her idol. But whenever they were in the same place, Pansy's eyes were drawn to Tonks. She didn't gawk-well, not much-but she watched the girl with great interest.

They weren't friends, not really, but Pansy liked to imagine they were. She made a point of saying, “Hi, Tonks,” when they passed in the hall. Much to her delight, Tonks almost always said “Hi” back, though Pansy wasn't sure if she recognized her or was just being polite.

Daphne never questioned her actions or why Pansy was defying her parents, but Pansy noticed the looks of concern Daphne got when she saw her friend at it.

To ease her friend's mind, Pansy stopped paying attention when Daphne was around. Since the two first years were practically joined at the hip, this meant Pansy rarely indulged in her fascination with Tonks.

It nearly broke her heart at the beginning, but Pansy soon found her mask easier and easier to slip into. This was, in a way, worse than the denial itself and Pansy could only bear it by thinking about Tonks often.

Even this, however, happened less and less, and by February, Pansy had successfully put Tonks out of her mind.

Still, at the graduation ceremony that June, she felt a pang of sadness watching the odd girl accept her diploma from the headmaster, knowing she'd never see her again.

How very wrong she was.


	2. The Letters From Nowhere

Nymphadora Tonks pulled her cloak tighter around her, slowly so as not to attract attention. She was far enough away from the mansion that it probably didn't matter, but there was no point in taking needless risks. There was definitely something weird going on in Parkinson Manor.

The first letter arrived the night after Dumbledore's funeral. She hadn't even wanted to go into the office that day, but life goes on and Robbards wasn't about to let any Aurors take days off. Not with such a crisis on their hands.

It was in this sour mood, that she sat down at her desk. She began, as she always did, by checking her mail. But instead of the usual corrections and notes on her reports, the first thing she saw was an envelope. The parchment looked thicker than normal, like the kind she had used back at Hogwarts. Written in handwriting she didn't recognize, the black letters spelled her surname.

“Chang,” she called to the intern who, among other things, sorted the mail.

The exhausted-looking girl came over and asked, “What is it, Tonks?”

“Did you see the owl that brought this?” she asked, pointing to the letter and ignoring the girl's tone.

“No. It was here when I got here.” Chang left without another word.

It was probably just another anonymous tip. They were common enough at the best of times and had nearly tripled since Voldemort’s return had finally been acknowledge. Normally, she'd cast a few spells to make sure it was safe and open it, but Robbards had instructed them to treat every outside letter as a potential attack. She was supposed to call the Examination Squad to take a look at it first.

She sighed, decided whatever it was could wait and sent a memo to the Examination Squad. After floating the envelope to a corner of her desk where she wouldn't accidentally touch, she finally set to work on her official mail.

It was a full half hour, before Tonks noticed that the Examination Squad hadn't arrived yet. This didn't surprise her. With the influx of tips, it could days before the got to it. Experience told Tonks to open it herself. The possibility of it being important was admittedly slim, but you never knew and Tonks, like most Aurors, would rather follow up a useless tip than ignore a good one.

That being said, she could understand Robbards' point. The department was understaffed as it was and they couldn't afford to lose anyone into an attack. So Tonks sent another memo asking the squad to hurry and occupied herself with her paperwork.

Two hours later and Tonks had caught up on all her backlog. And the team still hadn't arrived. Deciding enough was enough, she went to find her boss.

He was, as could have been expected, in his office and buried in even more paperwork than she was.

“What do you need?” he asked when he saw her coming, sounding as tired as he looked.

“Circe, you look like hell. Why don't you take some time off?”

“I'm no good to the Ministry at home.”

“You're no good to us dead either.”

He gave an exasperated sigh and said, “I don't have time for this. What do you need?”

“I got a letter. I think it's a tip and I can't get anyone up to give it a clean bill. Can't I just do it myself?”

His eyes narrowed. “You know the rules. The Death Eaters would love to take a few us out with a portkeyed letter.”

“I know all the spells,” she argued. “I've done them a hundred times. I was trained by Moody and partnered with Cadwaldr, for Merlin's sake. You remember how paranoid they were.”

“You're no Alastor Moody,” he's said dryly.

Tonks bit back a reply and calmed down a bit. She wasn't going to get anywhere by pissing him off.

“I know you're trying to keep us safe, but this isn't going to work. We've got to be able to read those tips. Some of them could be real.”

“Do you think I don't know that?” he asked sharply. “I'm planning on getting all us together to go over the spells next week, to make sure everyone knows them. But until then, we have to take every precaution.”

Tonks resisted rolling her eyes. Everyone _did_ know them. And if they didn't, they shouldn't have passed training.

“Well, go on, then,” he said. “I trust your instincts. But bring it here, just in case.”

It was a pointless request in Tonks' opinion, but if it would make Robbards happy, it was a small price to pay. Even if the tip was useless, it was better than sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Two minutes later, she was back in her boss's office. Twenty after, they had tried every spell they could think off and Tonks was finally able to open her letter. In the same dark letters, it read:

_Ms. Tonks-_

_There is going to be a Death Eater meeting at Parkinson Manor soon. I'll send you more details when I get them._

  
_An Old Friend_

  
She handed it Robbards so he could read it.

“What do you make of it?” He asked when he was finished.

“I don't know,” she answered with a shrug. “I don't recognize the handwriting and I don't know anyone who'd associate with the Parkinsons.”

“Think it could be legitimate?”

“I suppose. As far as I know, none of the Parkinsons have ever even been accused of Death Eaters, but their an old pureblood family and they're in close with the Malfoys.

“But,” she continued, “it's suspicious that they'd sign it like that. I think it could be a trap.”

“Good,” Robbards said, “I agree. Still, we have to consider the possibility that it's genuine.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Tonks asked, more than a little exasperated.

It was Robbards' turn to shrug.

“Treat it like any other tip. See if you can find out anything.

“But careful,” he warned. “If this is real...”

“I'll be fine,” she reassured him. “I'll be fine.”

And so Tonks found herself lurking around the Parkinson Manor. Despite Robbards' instructions, this wasn't just an ordinary job.

These weren't the ordinary, inexperienced criminals she was used to, so the usual tactics wouldn't work. She couldn't count on them to simply walk through the front door, and while she put in a request that the floo grate for the mansion be watched, she didn't expect any luck there either.

She couldn't question the neighbors either. For one, there weren't that many of them. The old wizarding families, the ones that were rich enough that is, liked their privacy and isolated their manors as much as possible.

More importantly though, any neighbors would have likely kept their mouths shut if they suspected the Parkinsons of being Death Eaters. It was the same as during the First War. Now that people knew Voldemort was back, no one wanted to risk him coming after them. And she didn't to risk being found out.

That wasn't to say Tonks was entirely helpless, however. The Department of Mysteries was always developing ways of looking into warded buildings. It was an arms race of course, and the bad guys were always finding new ways to block unwanted observation, but for a few months at least, the Aurors had the upper hand.

This latest spell, while it couldn't tell her who was inside, did at least show her the shapes of the people inside and she could tell there were more people occupying this mansion than normal.

Tonks had researched the family before going anywhere near the manor and had learned that there was usually six people in the house.

There was Finn and Guenivere (nee Sewel) Parkinson, along with Mr. Parkinson's mother, Mab. Like Tonks had thought, they were never officially accused of being Death Eaters, but there was little doubt where their loyalties lie. Like Lucius Malfoy, Finn Parkinson was always giving statements to the _Prophet_ regarding the importance of blood status.

Then there were the three daughters, the oldest of which was Scarlett. Scarlett was as old as Tonks, but the Auror only vaguely remembered the girl she had considered vapid in school. Assuming she hadn't changed, Tonks wasn't convinced Scarlett had the brains to be a Death Eater.

Tonks also went to school with the middle daughter Pansy, although only briefly. As far as she could recall, she had never even seen the girl and really only knew her by reputation. The Trio, particularly Hermione, she had noted, had a lot of things to say about Draco Malfoy's girlfriend and none of them kind.

She'd asked her friend and fellow auror Bond what she knew about Pansy, but as she was as old as Tonks only spent one year with Pansy, she didn't know her well either. Seventh years never paid much attention to firsties if they weren't prefects. At most she could say was she seemed normal enough.

The youngest daughter, Peri, was only seven, and too young to be involved in anything that was going on.

Excluding them and the smaller shapes she determined were house elves, there were still at least five other people staying there was as well as others popping in and out.

Of course, there were any number of reasons for this but Tonks had almost expected this. If it were a trap the letter writer would put in enough truth to make it believable and lure her in.

The question was: Who?

As more letters arrived, Tonks began to form a theory.

  
  


The second letter came a few days after the first. It read:

_Ms. Tonks_

  
_The meeting will be on the 20th. As far as I can find out, all the Death Eaters will be coming. I think something major is happening._

  
_An Old Friend_

“That's it,” Robbards said when she should him the note.

Traps, at least according to Auror training, followed the same progression. The first letter, warning of an upcoming event was designed to get her attention. The second after some claims from the first had been confirmed, was the meant to draw her in.

There might be more letters, but eventually the writer would send the lure. There would be some offer designed to be too tempting to pass up. Something that was supposed to make her forget her good sense.

“Do you have any ideas about the sender?” Robbards asked.

They were sitting in his office again. He was looking even more harried than before.

Tonks bit her lip trying to decide how to answer that question. In the end, she couldn't find a way of tempering the blow.

“Bellatrix Lestrange, sir.”

_That_ got his attention. If Lestrange was really involved, it was bad news.

“Are you sure?”

“No, but it explains why it's targeting me. It's no secret that she's hated my mum since she married my dad and I think she may after me to get back at her.”

Her boss gave her a hard stare and she could tell he didn't quite believe her.

In fact, she knew exactly why Bellatrix Lestrange would be after her. The year before, she had dueled her aunt at the Department of the Mysteries. Tonks had been knocked out, but her cousin Sirius Black had come and saved her in time. And even though she had killed Sirius, Tonks had a feeling her aunt was disappointed she hadn't gotten her too.

But Robbards wasn't to know that. The Order of the Phoenix wasn't any more legal than the Death Eaters and Dumbledore had gone to a lot of trouble to keep the real reason for her long St. Mungo's stay a secret. She wasn't going to let that go to waste, even after his death.

But to her relief, he didn't push her.

Instead, he asked, “Is there anyone else it could be?”

She shrugged and said, “I guess, but all of them are a stretch. The oldest Parkinson daughter, Scarlett might consider me a friend, but we barely knew each other and I can't see why she'd have anything against me.”

“She could be acting on Voldemort's orders,” Robbards suggested.

“Maybe...” Tonks said. He seemed to take her meaning.

“Well, until we find out otherwise, let's work on the premise that is Lestrange. I want you to be careful. We don't need you need you getting hurt.”

“Sir?”

Tonks was more than a little surprised. She'd half-expected him to take her off the case. He'd been so reluctant to let her pursue it earlier and had done it to other Aurors in the past.

“Yes?”

“Well, I thought...” she trailed off.

“You thought I'd reassign you?”

“Well,” she admitted, “yes.”

He nodded and said, “I probably should at that, but this Bellatrix Lestrange and I don't think that will prevent her from targeting you and your best chance is to find out everything you can. Just don't do anything stupid.”

“I won't, sir,” she said getting up to leave.

“And Tonks,” he said stopping her, “if you have any...friends who could help keep an eye on you, you have my permission to tell them.”

They shared a look of understanding.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Very well,” he said as if nothing had happened, “carry on.”

Recognizing the dismissal, Tonks turned and left.

  
But it was the third letter that had caused Tonks to be lurking outside Parkinson Manor that night.

After a week long gap, during which time Tonks almost came to believe the issue was over, she arrived to work in the morning to find it sitting on her desk.

It read:

_Ms. Tonks_

  
_They've kidnapped Prof. Burbage. If you come tonight, we can save her. Wait outside the border of Parkinson land and I'll send someone to get you._

_ Please _ _come._

_An Old Friend_

Tonks had _no_ intention of falling for a trap, but she also couldn't risk letting something happen to an innocent witch.

After seeing a message to the secretary telling her where she was going, she walked to the apparition point and traveled to Hogsmeade.

As she walk towards the castle, it struck her how peaceful everything seemed. There was no sign of the battle that had taken place there less than a month ago.

She was about halway to the castle when she remembered no one knew she was coming. She fixed that by sending a patronus message to McGonagall.

While she hadn't really expected the acting Headmistress to come and meet her in person, she was still disappointed when she saw Filch waiting for instead.

She never liked that man (she doubted anyone did, really), but Filch always seemed to detest her in particular when she was in school.

Though by the sight of him, maybe she shouldn't be so hard on him. He looked as if he was taking Dumbledore's death poorly.

She supposed that made sense. Despite his many, _many_ flaws, Dumbledore had always been kind to to the man. Tonks was sure she heard once that Filch was the first squib ever to work at Hogwarts.

They walked in silence up the floors until they reached the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's- McGonagall's now, she guessed-office.

“Password's 'Remembrance',” he said.

She offered him a weak smile and said, “Thanks,” but he had already turned away.

“Remembrance,” she told the gargoyle who stepped aside to let her pass. She walked quickly up the stairs and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came the voice from the other side of the door. Tonks opened the door to find her old Transformation professor sitting behind the Headmaster's desk.

Tonks had sat in front, of it more times than her parents had liked and as far as she could tell, McGonagall hadn't changed a thing. It was as if it was a shrine to Dumbledore.

“What can I do for you Tonks?” she asked. Pale and puffy-eyed, she looked even worse than Filch.

“I'm here on Auror business, I'm afraid. Does a Prof. Burbage work here? I seem to remember that name.”

McGonagall nodded and said, “She's the Muggle Studies professor. Why?”

“We got a tip this morning that the Death Eater kidnapped her. We're pretty sure it's a trap, but I need check up on it. Do you know where she lives? I should probably look in on her, just to be on the safe side.

If possible, the old woman's face went even whiter than before and pulled open a desk drawer.

“She lives in Ireland,” she said as she thumbed through files. “Belfast, I believe.

“Here,” she said and pulled out a file. She looked through it and handed a piece of parchment to Tonks.

Tonks looked over the address.

“Mind if I use your fireplace?” she asked.

“Of course.”

McGonagall stood up and the two of them walked to the fire place. McGonagall handed Tonks a jar of floo powder. Tonks took and handful and threw it into the fire and knelt down in front of it.

“Burbage Resident,” she said clearly to the green flames that shot up, before sticking her head in.

The site of the room in front of her confirmed her worst fears. There had been a struggle and a violent one at that. Furniture had been overturned and the carpet ripped. There was even a whole in the wall that looked like it came from a blasting hex.

“Prof. Burbage, this is Auror Tonks. Are you alright?” she asked as part of procedure, though she knew what the answer would be.

There was no sound at all.

“Prof. Burbage?” she called, louder this time.

Still nothing.

Robbards would have her head if she went in alone, so she pulled out and turned to McGonagall.

“Something's wrong,” she said. “I need to get to the office.”

“Is she-”

“I don't know,” she said as she stood up and took another handful of powder, throwing it immediately into the fire. “But I don't think she's dead.”

She didn't say the last word “yet”.

Before McGonagall could ask anymore questions, she told the fire “Auror Offices” and stepped into the fire.

An hour later, Tonks was sitting in Robbards' office.

Once she had gotten to the office and she'd reported what she'd seen, he'd dispatched two Aurors to the scene. Much to her annoyance, Tonks had not been allowed to go with them.

“It's my case!” She argued, but he had said it was too risky and so she been left to wait for the report.

The other Aurors confirmed there had been a fight, they couldn't find a body. That suggested, like Tonks had suspected, Burbage still alive.

That was further supported by the fact the Dark Mark hadn't been cast.

“Well,” Robbards said to her after he read the report, “What do you think we should do next?”

“Tonks answered immediately, “I think we need to take the idea that these are real, more seriously. Everything has checked out so far. I think you should let me go.”

She had had a long time to think about her position and her arguments.

Robbards looked at her as if she had gone mad.

“Have you forgotten _everything_ Moody taught you? Of course, everything checks out! They've told enough of truth to make the rest seem true. It'd be a pretty poor trap if we could see right through.”

Tonks knew this argument was coming, and while it was a good one, she had prepared for it.

“Ok, say you're right. In fact, you probably are,” she granted. “That doesn't change the fact that Burbage is still in there and it's our job to get her out. It's a calculated risk, but I think I have a plan to put things in our favor.”

“I'm listening...” he said slowly.

“I'm not saying I should go in all.”

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded, catching on.

“We treat it as a hostage exchange. You go there in the open and we we send a team hidden team with you.”

“Exactly!” Tonks said.

“But what happens next. What do you do when they come.”

“That's the bad part, because I have to go with them.” He open his mouth to object, but Tonks kept going. “But if you put a tracking spell on me, then we can stay in control. If it's not a trap, I can call the team with one of the mirrors. If it is, they can come and find me.”

Her boss frowned.

“I don't like it he said.”

“I don't either,” she admitted, “but I'm not sure we have another choice. I'm opened to suggestions, but...”

She trailed off when he closed his eyes. She'd been around him enough to know that he was thinking carefully, weighing all the options. He needed quiet for that.

Finally, he opened his eyes and said, “I don't like this at all.

“But I can't think of anything else,” he continued. “Alright, we'll send twenty Aurors out with you. You'll have five minutes to contact your team before they go in.

“Let me make this all very clear: You are not to take on the Death Eaters alone if you can avoid it. You go in, make contact, get Burbage and get out. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now got get ready. You and your team will apparate at five.”

Tonks left and went to her desk to plan out what she needed. The mirror was obvious, even if she hadn't suggested it, but what else?

She opened he big, bottom drawer and looked to see what Wheezes she had. After the battle at Hogwarts, the Ministry had bought a large supply of Weasley products for the Auror department. Of course, she hadn't had the chance to use any in battle, but some of them looked dead useful.

In the end, she decide you bring a couple of Decoy Detonators and a Portable Swamp. She was tempted to leave her Shield Cloak and Gloves behind, simply because it would annoy Cadwaldr if he ever found out about it, but she knew they might save her life, so they got pulled out as well.

With regret, she decided again the Peruvian Darkness powder. She was itching for the chance to try it out, but she didn't no the layout of Parkinson Manor and using it would just cause trouble for her.

Now there was nothing to do but wait.

And so Tonks waited on the edge of the grounds.

Before they apparated, Robbards had given her team the same instructions he'd given her. Now they were waiting, disillusioned, at different points around the perimeter and Tonks was alone.

As the night grew colder, Tonks began to get impatient. She was using the same spell to look into the house that she had before and she could see more people appearing in the house. The Death Eaters, she guessed.

What was the letter writer playing at? If they were really going to save Burbage, it would be better to do it without a load of people around. No, as more time passed, she was becoming more and more convinced that it was a trap.

The worst bit was that there was nothing she could do until someone came to get her.

She didn't have to wait much longer. She was checking her watch again when someone or something grabbed her leg. She reached for her wand and looked down to try and see what it was, but they were already apparating away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so another chapter down, this time from Tonk's POV. Next one will be from Pansy's and then the next few will have each of them take the stage.
> 
> When I create backstories for characters, I tend to reuse them. So Scarlett and Peri are the two sisters mentioned in In The Cards and Pansy's still from Clithroe (even though these story isn't connected to that at all).
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. The Traitor

While Tonks was waiting outside, a very different scene was playing out inside the manor. Pansy Parkinson was sitting at a table in the dining room. This was in no way unusual for a summer evening, but the company was. Along with her family, there sat the Lestranges and the Carrows.

Pansy's parents had pulled her out of school less than a week following the attack from the Death Eaters. They hadn't even sent her an owl to warn her. She had just been sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast with her friends when they burst in.

She'd tried to argue with them, said she had no intention of leaving Hogwarts, but they had insisted and dragged her down to the Slytherin dungeon to collect her things. They refused to even explain why. She found that out when they arrived at her home.

The Lestranges and Carrows were waiting for them. She recognized them straight away. Bellatrix, with her mad look and wild black hair. The brothers Rodolphus and Rabastan, with their shocks of red hair and hard, angular faces. Amycus Carrow and his sister Alecto, fat, ugly, likely inbred. She'd never met them, of course, but she read _The Prophet_ just like everybody else. She'd know them anywhere.

The Death Eaters weren't too keen on letting the Parkinsons be alone together, and they were all whisked off to their rooms after having their wands seized before they had a chance to compare notes. So it was some time before she could get all the details of her situation.

But Pansy Parkinson wasn't a stupid girl and began piecing things together on her own.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or “The Dark Lord”, as she was now obliged to call him, was trying to build up his army. Why? Beyond the general, she wasn't sure, but she had some ideas.

The first step for him was to gather together people who supported his viewpoint, but never him directly. Her father was close friends with Lucius Malfoy, always had been. That, coupled with Pansy's past relationship with Draco, made her family the obvious starting point.

The Lestranges and the Carrows had been sent along to make sure they cooperated. She supposed she should have been flattered that he felt the need to send his best.

But if Pansy was unhappy with their presence, it was nothing compared to how she felt when she met the Dark Lord himself.

The night she returned home, she unexpectedly heard a knock on her bedroom door. She quickly, but reluctantly got from her bed and opened the door to find the ugly face of Amycus Carrow leering back at her.

“The Dark Lord wants to see you.”

A thousand possible retorts slashed through her head. She so wanted to say something, say _anything,_ to defy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but she wasn't such a fool. If she did that the best she could hope for was torture. Knowing how the Death Eaters operated, though, more likely she'd be forced to watch her family was torture before her.

Carrow led her through the long main hallway of her home and ultimately to the dining room.

They entered to find He-Who-Must-Not Be-Named sitting at the head of the table. Sitting at of her father's place.

She had to fight hard to keep her repulsion at sight of him from her face. She'd heard Auntie Narcissa talk sometimes about how handsome the Dark Lord had been, but he was the ugliest man she had ever seen in her life.

She'd heard people describe as looking snake-like, but he really did. He was completely hairless and his skin, tinted an unnatural shade of green, was stretched tightly over his body, giving it a snakeish, almost scaly, quality.

But the real resemblance was in his eyes and nose. His eyes, frighteningly and unnaturally red, were narrow and his nostrils were mere slits.

He was like something out her nightmares.

“Sit down.” It was unmistakably a command, but his voice was so soft and silky that it almost felt like he was inviting her to tea.

She quickly regained her wits and obeyed him. She couldn't afford to let herself to be seduced by his charm. “ _A Parkinson is always suspicious_ ,” her father had told her once. She needed to keep her head about her and find out what he was after.

“You are Pansy?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.” She kept her head down. She hated showing weakness to anyone, but she couldn't help herself. She just could not stand the sight of him.

“You forget your manners, Pansy. Look me in the eye when you speak to me.”

She forced herself to obey. She was sure he could see the horror in her eyes and she had a sickening feeling he loved it.

“I want you to do something for me and because you are a proper young lady, I know you'll be happy to do it.”

He paused, waiting for her to speak.

“Yes, sir,” she mumbled.

“Very good. I want you to tell me about you classmates. The ones in your house. I need to know who would join me and who would,” he paused as if considering his next words carefully, “choose to stand against me.

“And,” he continued, “you will tell me the truth. Lord Voldemort always knows when someone is lying to him.”

The thought of betraying her friends made her sick. They were Slytherins! They were supposed to be a united front. Surely, she thought, he didn't think she'd tell him anything.”

No, she was being stupid. He knew she'd tell him everything he wanted to know, because he had her family at his mercy and would torture them if she didn't.

Her memory flashed back to all the times Auntie Narcissa had said what a hero he'd been and Pansy wondered how she'd ever believed it.

“Well,” she said, thinking quickly, “there's Malfoy, sir. Draco Malfoy. He's always said he wanted to serve you.”

“Young Draco has been serving me loyally for a year now, as you know.” His tone hadn't changed, but she sensed the threat nonetheless.

She mentally shook herself. She need to get control of herself. Obviously, telling him Draco wouldn't work, what had she been thinking? She'd have to do better.

“Gregory Goyle,” she offered. “And Vincent Crabbe. They're not terribly bright, but they'll join. Oh, and Theo Nott.”

“Pansy,” he said, his voice now cold, “you are wasting my time. Perhaps you need some incentive to tell me names I do not already know.”

Her heart sank. She had, naively, hoped that if she gave him enough obvious names he'd let them go. But of course that would never work.

“No, my lord,” she said, “I'll cooperate.”

She choked back sobs as she sold out all her friends. Terry and Blaise, Malcom and Graham, Millicent and Tracy, Warrington and Montague. Her only comfort was that she honestly didn't think if any one of them would fight, so she wasn't setting them up to be killed.

Lord Voldemort seem pleased when she finished,

“You've done well, Pansy. You may return to your room-”

She quickly stood to leave.

“- _a_ _f_ _ter_ you tell me the name you're hiding.”

She sank back down dejectedly. She _had_ held back a name: Daphne Greengrasss was a sweet girl, but she wasn't very strong. She wouldn't be able to stand up against the Death Eaters.

“Daphne Greengrass,” the Dark Lord said with a smile.

Pansy felt utterly violated. He had pick her best friend's name right out of her mind. And apparently he could have done that for any name at any time. The only purpose of bringing her there was to force her to betray her friends herself.

She put aside those thoughts. There'd be time enough to dwell on them later. She had to try and fix this.

“Sir,” she said, quickly “You don't want Daphne. She's weak and silly. She'll-”

“ _I_ will decide who I can use. You've done very well in your part, you may return to your room.”

Sobbing again, she stood up and allowed herself to be led out by Carrow. What other choice did she have? It wasn't as if she could make _him_ not go after her friends. He had won and she had lost.

But then in the hall on their way back, they passed Bellatrix Lestrange leading Peri in for the same treatment she'd just received.

“Why is she here?” she demand, the pitch of her voice going shrill.

“The Dark Lord wishes to question her,” the woman said curtly, as if it were a silly question, as if it were an everyday thing, as if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did what he wanted without question.

“But she's just a kid!” Pansy shrieked. “She can't help you. Take her back!”

Lestrange stepped forward, her wand pointing directly at Pansy's throat.

“Know your place girl,” she said, the threat clear in her voice. “The Dark Lord does what he wants.”

Even with every fiber of her being screaming that it was a bad idea, Pansy stepped forward, he wand now inches away from her.

“I won't let you take her,” she said calmly, her voice dangerously low.

Bellatrix laughed and said, "I'd like to see you try and stop me."

If the woman hadn't been distracted, what Pansy did next would never have worked. As it was, she was able to shove the Death Eater's wand out of the way as she launched herself at her, tackling her.

This was a mistake. She grabbed Bellatrix by her hair and was about a slam her head against the floor when she heard Carrow shot behind her,"CRUCIO!"

A moment later she was hit with the worst pain she could have ever imagined. It was as if tiny knives were stabbing every inch of her body at once. It was as if she were being burned alive. It was if every fiber of her being was dying at the same time. She let go of Bellatrix and rolled off her.

“Foolish girl,” Bellatrix said as she got up.

Carrow left the curse on her for what must have only been a minute but felt like ages to the young girl, before Bellatrix made him stop. Pansy whimpered and tried feebly to get up, but Lestange kicked her hard in stomach, knocking her back to the ground.

“Don't defy us.”

As Pansy was picked up, she heard Lestrange say to Peri, “That's what happens to those who stand against the Dark Lord. Be wiser than your sister.”

She didn't struggle as she was half-carried, half-dragged away, but she was not, as Carrow seemed to think judging from his jibes, broken. Something had snapped inside her when she'd seen Peri being led to face that monster. Until that moment, her only thought had been to stay alive, but that wasn't going to be enough anymore.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Carrow roughly shoved her into her room.

“You haven't seen defiance yet,” she said out loud after her door had been slammed and she was certain no one could hear her.

She walked, stumbling, over to her bed and got in. Her short time under the Cruciatus had sapped her energy and, still reeling, she was going to need her rest. She dearly wished she'd get the chance to pay him back for that one day.

She called, “Brownie” and with a pop her elf appeared almost instantly beside her.

Brownie had been been a present for her thirteenth birthday and Pansy loved the fussy little elf dearly.

“Miss Parkinson!” the elf gasped when she saw the state of her mistress. “What happened?”

“A curse, courtesy of our hosts. I'm fine.” Another spasm of pain shot through her. “Well, I _will_ be, anyway. What about you? They haven't hurt you, have they? What about the other elves?”

“Brownie is fine, Miss Parkinson. We all are. Wizards barely notice elves like Brownie.”

Pansy hugged her elf tightly and murmured, “Thank Circe!” Then she pulled back and said, “I need your help. It's going to be dangerous, but if you can do it, I can fight back. Do you understand?”

Brownie nodded.

“I need you to check up on my family. Make sure they're alright and help them, if you can. Just don't get yourself be seen. Then, I need you to listen in on the Death Eater's conversations. Especially,” she said in a low, dangerous tone, “Bellatrix Lestrange. Tell me everything the say and do, no matter how insignificant it seems.”

She paused and was suddenly ashamed. She'd forgotten something important. She still had to try and fix the mess she'd been forced to make. She couldn't save all her friends, it would look too suspicious if they all vanished, but she could try and help her best friend.

“But first I need you to go to Daphne Greengrass. You remember, Daphne, don't you?”

The elf said that she did and Pansy continued, “Warn her that the Death Eaters may be coming for her. And...tell her I'm sorry.

“That should be everything,” she finally said.

“Then Brownie will go now. But Miss Parkinson should rest.”

“I will. I promise. Don't worry about me, just go.”

The little elf was still clearly reluctant, but she obeyed.

Satisfied there was nothing else that could be done, at least for the moment, she lay down, closed her eyes and winced. Now that she didn't have anything to distract her, she had no choice but to focus on the pain. Once, long ago, she'd been so mad at Tracey that she'd threaten to use the Cruciatus on her. Never again. She had always assumed that the pain wore of as soon as the curse was lifted, but at that moment she was sure her nerves would feel as if they were burning forever.

The best thing for was rest. That was basic healing. Looking back, she was never sure how she managed it, but she did finally drifted off to sleep.

She didn't know how long she slept, but she did feel better once she was awake, at least enough to get out of bed and stretch her legs by pacing around her room. As far prison cells went, it was a nice one with pink walls (still her favorite color), a vanity and a desk in a corner, and even a few bookshelves, containing books of magic as well as art and novels (some which she'd never admit to own, not for all the gold in Gringotts). Across from her bed, far larger than her one at Hogwarts, was her walk-in closet with her vast collection of clothes from the finest shops in Europe. It was rare week at home that she didn't lock herself away in her room to play dress up. Most days she wouldn't mind staying there all day. Now it was just a gilded cage.

Now that she was awake, she had to face the problem of fighting her captors. It was hard. There were so many things she wanted to do she knew she couldn't.

She wanted her wand back, but she knew they would notice it missing. She wanted to sneak out and visit her family, but even if she managed that unseen, they would be heard. She didn't even think she could safely call Brownie again to find out without risking them noticing the elf's comings and goings. And there was no point in trying to plan. Not without more information. All she could do was wait.

She had never felt more helpless.

But as it turned out, she didn't have to wait long for her elf to return. Just as she sat down in her desk chair, after pacing, Brownie appeared in front of her.

“Your Daphne is safe,” she said before Pansy had a chance to say a word. She almost snorted. Brownie had always called Daphne hers, which had made her friend giggle, but had disconcerted Pansy at first.

Ignoring the memory for a moment, she asked, “What did she say? Is she going into hiding?”

“Brownie is sorry. Brownie is not asking.”

“I'm sure she will,” Pansy said, more to reassure herself than anything else. “What about my family?”

“They is fine,” she said unconvincingly.

“Brownie...”

“Brownie didn't want to worry Miss Parkinson,” she admitted. “They looked like Miss Parkinson did when Brownie found her.”

Pansy's anger flared again. So they had all been tortured too.

“All of them?” she asked, her voice gone cold.

The elf nodded and Pansy had to use every once of her not inconsiderable self-control to her magic in check or else things would burn.

She calmed herself down by reminding herself that they were still alive and she couldn't do anything for them just then.

“Thank you for telling me. And the Death Eaters, what did you learn?”

“Brownie heard the Dark Witch talking. She is saying there's to be a meet soon.

Pansy smirked. That had promise.

She hugged the elf again.

“You've done wonderfully,” she said, “but I have to ask you to do more tonight. The faster we can organize, the better our chances are. Do you understand?”

“Brownie understands. Brownie is proud to help Miss Parkinson fight dark wizards.”

“Good. I need you to go to my parents- Scarlett too. Tell them I'm working on an escape plan, I need their help. If there's anything they know about the manor that can help us-any secret passages or escape routes or things like that-I need to know. Come back as soon as you can.”

Pansy was soon left alone again, but this time she could start working. She began to pace again.

He plan, at least the basics of it, was simple. They would use the cover of the meeting as their chance to escape. It would be easy enough with their captors distracted. After that, they'd find someone to feed all the information she gathered to. Whatever He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was planning, he'd be thwarted in a week.

The more the Slytherin girl thought about it, the more she realized how much potential there was hidden in her situation. There were no limits to the opportunities there would be available to her and her family if they were the ones to bring down the Dark Lord, if she was the savior of the wizarding world for a change. She wondered if she could talk the ministry into letting her have some alone time with Lestrange.

Her fantasy of having her captor at her feet, however, was interrupted by the return of her house elf. She knew instantly something was wrong by the look on Brownie's face.

“What's happened?” The young witch asked urgently. “Are they alright?”

“Brownie is sorry, Miss Parkinson. Your father is not wanting you to fight.”

Pansy had to sit down on the edge of her bed. Her world had just been pulled out from under her and it felt as if her knee were going to give.

She was silent for a long time. Finally, she said, “Tell me what he said. Everything. Word-for-word.”

“Brownie doesn't think she should be saying.”

“Brownie.”

The elf bowed his her head and said, “Mister Parkinson is say is you shouldn't be foolish. He is saying the Dark Lord will kill you and them if you is fighting him. He...he is asking if that is what you is wanting.”

It was clear that there was more, but the elf, doubtlessly unwilling to hurt her further, said nothing. Pansy was very grateful for that.

“And the others?” she asked. “Mum? And Scarlett?”

“They is agreeing with your father.”

“Thank you for telling me,” she repeated numbly, not knowing what else to say. “That...” she fought to keep her voice from cracking. “That will be all for tonight. I need to think about this. I'll see you in the morning.”

“Miss Parkinson...”

“Go.”

Once she was alone, she pulled knees up under her chin and hugged her legs. This wasn't right. He was her father. He was supposed to know what to to. He was supposed to keep them safe. Why was he letting these... _creatures_ control them, beat them down?

Pansy hated to cry, hadn't done done it since she was a girl, hadn't even done it when Draco had been broken up with her, but there was no stopping the tears this time.

Still curled up, she lay back releasing her legs and sobbed quietly. It was over. The Death Eaters had won and there was nothing she could do.

She woke some time later to find her elf watching over her.

She sat up and asked, “How long have you been there?”

“Brownie has been watching Miss Parkinson for awhile. Brownie wants to know Miss Parkinson is alright.”

“Well, thank you, but I'm fine now.”

But the little elf kept staring at her intently.

“What is it,” Pansy asked.

“Brownie wants to speak Miss Parkinson, if Miss Parkinson allows it.”

“You can always speak freely Brownie, you know that.”

“Brownie thinks Miss Parkinson should be leaving. It isn't safe here with dark wizards. Brownie will take Miss Parkinson somewhere safe. Please.”

As she looked into the elf's pleading eyes, Pansy would have had to lie if she wanted to claim the idea wasn't tempting. Part of her wanted to run, run far away. Anywhere would do. She could start her life over again.

“No. I'm sorry, but...no.” As Brownie's face fell, she explained, “I want to, really I do, but I just can't. If I leave now, they'll find out and it'll be even worse for my family then.”

She paused. The fear and sadness she felt flowed out of her, leaving only her anger and her determination.

“Maybe everyone else has given up, but I haven't. I'm going to fight them, and if I have to do it without my family, well then so be it.”

“Brownie doesn't think Miss Parkinson can do it alone,” the elf said quietly.

“Well, I'm not alone, am I? I've got you, haven't I?”

The elf smiled despite herself, but said, “That isn't what Brownie means.”

“I know what you mean, and you're right. We're going to need help. Just let me think for a bit.”

There weren't many people she could turn to. She was a Slytherin and the former girlfriend of Draco Malfoy, not a very popular combination in the circles she'd need. Her family was not and had never been Death Eaters, but they were well-known blood supremacist and she'd have a job proving it to anyone who might help her.

Unfortunately, the person who was most likely to help her was dead. Harry Potter was another candidate and one she didn't _completely_ discount. True, he no doubt saw her as an extension of Draco, but he was Dumbledore's man through and through. If she appealed to his better nature, she might have a chance of convincing him.

But he was only one wizard. Alright, he'd probably have Weasley and Granger with him, but still. And while he had continuously defied those who had wanted to kill him, Hogwarts gossip told her it was mostly through luck. She thought he'd have enough trouble fighting the Death Eaters, even if she could convince him to help her.

That left the ministry. They had the advantage of being more likely to believe her-or at the very least listening to her-but they were hopelessly incompetent.

She briefly wondered if she could the muggles to help her. Show up at their ministry, wave her wand around a bit and they'd have to believe in magic.

But even if she could get them to help after she told them about the army of wizards waiting for her, the Death Eaters would make short of them. She'd be leading them to slaughter and she'd be right back where she'd started. Actually, it would probably be worse for her. The ministry-her ministry-in their infinitive wisdom, would probably think she'd planned it that way. Even if they didn't, they'd throw her into Azkaban for showing magic to muggles. She didn't think the Wizengamot would see it as defending herself and she wasn't about to trade one prison for another.

She sighed. It was going to have to be her ministry. They weren't much, but they had numbers. Besides, she didn't need them to win, she just needed then to distract her captors long enough for them to escape. She doubted even her father would pass up the opportunity for freedom if it was handed to him on a silver platter and once they were away, she'd have more freedom to challenge the Death Eaters on her own terms.

That left her the question of who in the ministry to tell. Well, the aurors, obviously, but which one? She'd barely had any contact with them and didn't know the first thing about reporting a crime to them.

She tried to remember the aurors she did know. There was a girl in her house that got accepted to the academy when Pansy had been in her first year, but she couldn't even begin to remember to her name. There was Moody, but she wasn't sure he was still around, especially after her fourth year.

There were aurors in the school the year before. She'd struck up a conversation with a pretty one once. But again, she couldn't swear to the names.

This was getting her nowhere and she wasting time.

“Brownie,” she finally said, “I need you to go to the aurors. Don't talk to anyone yet. Just get their names. I've met a few aurors and one of them may be able to help us. I just can't think of their names.” She thought for a moment. “Savage, I think. And one of them may been Bounder. But get all their names and make me a list. Then I'll decide who to talk to.”

“Brownie will be back soon,” the elf promised, before vanishing.

Pansy sat at her desk, took out a quill and some parchment and prepared to write a letter. She didn't expect to get help for nothing in return. She certain wouldn't, were she in their place. That meant she'd have to tell them what she knew. Well, there was precious little of that, but it would have to do.

She wrote on the parchment:

_There's going to be a Death Eater meeting at Parkinson Manor soon._

  
Twirling the quill around between her fingers, she examined what she'd written. Then she added:

  
_I'll send you more details when I get them._

She left room above and below for the greeting and the signature. She'd fill that in once she knew who she was writing to.

She didn't have to wait long. Soon her elf returned with a list of names.

Pansy scanned the list carefully. A few names popped out at her. Bond was the girl in her house. She recognized the names Dawlish and Proudfoot, probably from the papers. And Savage was the handsome wizard she'd tried to chat up once.

And then she saw the next name on the list and gasped. She had to read it three times before she was certain she'd read it right.

Nymphadora Tonks.

“Brownie, this name here? Nymphadora Tonks. You're sure that's the right name. You couldn't have made it a mistake?”

“Brownie is sure, Miss Parkinson. Brownie remembers the name.”

Satisfied, she looked at the name again. Smiling, she said to herself, “Nymphadora Tonks. I wondered what happened to you.”

“Miss Parkinson is knowing Nymphadora Tonks?”

“Yeah. We went to Hogwarts together for a year. We were friends. Well,” she said thinking again, “I guess we weren't really friends, but she was always very nice to me when I was just a silly girl. I liked her.”

Smiling again, she addressed the letter “Ms. Tonks” and-she simply couldn't resist-signed it “An Old Friend.”

She folded the parchment, stuffed it into an envelope and sealed it with green wax. There was no one else to send it to. It was perfect. Not only could she trust Tonks, she bet Bellatrix Lestrange would hate her niece being the one to bring her down.

“Take this to Tonks,” she said handing Brownie the note. “Don't let her see you, but see that she gets it.”

Left alone in her thoughts with her elf once again on the job, Pansy's thoughts drifted to long forgotten memories of the odd girl she was once so fascinated with.

In truth, it had been ages since anything had brought her cousin to mind, but she was glad it happened. For the first time since she was brought home, she was positive things would turn out alright.

  
The following days saw Pansy fall into an uneasy routine. The Death Eaters left her alone and she had no contact with them, save for her meals being brought to her twice a day by the ever-leering Amycus Carrow.

How she hated him.

Pansy wasn't idle. With the help of Brownie, she made a detailed map of her home. With it as a guide, she had devised thirteen possible escape routes, though she'd have to wait until the battle started before she'd know which to use. At best, she could try and figure out which one were most likely.

The rest of her time was spent gathering what information she could from the Death Eaters. There wasn't much. They were careful and most of what they did say was obvious enough for Longbottom to guess.

She did learn that her parents and Scarlett weren't as lucky as she. They were brought in to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named almost daily and most times they were tortured.

She had taken it to be simple sadism at first, but Brownie had overheard one of the Death Eaters saying they were being conditioned. Apparently they were being prepared for something, though exactly what, Pansy could only guess.

She wished there was something she could do, if only to help them recover, but she couldn't see a way to do it without tipping them off that she was spying. Given the strain they were under and the pain enduring, she couldn't swear they wouldn't sell her out to get some relief. She couldn't swear she'd be able to endure in their place.

Her one comfort was that if they were needed for something, then they weren't to be destroyed like the Longbottoms, only broken. She had time.

She did have one major success. A few days after her first letter, she'd found out the date of the meeting. The 20th.

Immediately, she sent another letter to Tonks, reading:

_The meeting will be on the 20th. As far as I can find out, all the Death Eaters will be coming. I think something major is happening._

_-An Old Friend_

She hadn't heard from Tonks, of course. She hadn't expected to. But she knew in her heart that everything would be ok, even if she couldn't explain why.

But those easy times weren't to last. A couple of days after she sent her second letter, she was summoned for another meeting. She was led once again to the dining room, but instead of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, she was brought before Bellatrix Lestrange.

She was sitting at the table, but not, Pansy noted, in the seat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had. Even when he wasn't there, the Death Eaters deferred to him.

“Sit,” she commanded, pointing her wand at her. There was none of the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's affected kindness. His loyal servant was cold and harsh.

And how she hated her.

But she obeyed anyway.

“The Dark Lord has decided it's time for you to give your services to his cause. You will do exactly what you're told. If you don't, I'm allowed to punish you. So, please, “she said, smiling evilly, “defy me.”

Not for the first time, Pansy fantasized about plunging a dagger deep into the woman's chest.

“No,” she said, “that won't be necessary.”

Calmly, the witch raised her wand and hit Pansy with the Cruciatus again. Crying out, Pansy slumped against the table, writhing in pain.

Lestrange ended the curse and sneered at her.

“Look at me.” Pansy obeyed. “I don't like your tone. You still think you can beat us. Well, I'll break you. If cursing you doesn't do it, I'll have the little girl brought up here and make you watch. Maybe I'll even let the others have a go. There,” she said, smirking. “That did it.”

Pansy's face must have betrayed her emotion. She cursed herself in her head. The evil woman knew exactly what Peri meant to her and knew what threatening her would do. Pansy would do whatever she was told and Lestrange knew it.

“That won't be necessary...ma'am. What would you like me to do?”

“Better. The Dark Lord will be bringing more people to your home. Your school friends. Some of their families have been...foolish. You will convince your friends it's in their best interest to support your master.”

So that was their plan. Well, that confirmed her suspicions. She was the most popular Slytherin girl and a prefect. A leader in her house. They were hoping if she went along with them, the others would fall in the place.

The fools.

“Alright, I'll do my best.”

Lestrange sneered.

“I hope you do for your sake. You'll convince them, either as a leader...or as an example.

“Very well, you can leave. Think hard on what you're going to do.”

Pansy was certain she hadn't meant it that way, but she did think hard. As she was escorted back to her room, she debated whether or not to tell Tonks about this new development. As she entered her room, she decided she wouldn't.

She hated herself for it, but she knew if she told Tonks, she and the other aurors would try and save them. She didn't know how many aurors there were in the ministry, but she was prepared to bet there weren't enough to take care of her friends and her. As much as she wanted to help the, her family came first. Once they were safe, she'd worry about her friends.

Pansy had no contact with anyone for days after that, but she knew something big was happening nonetheless. She could hear her captors moving loudly outside her walls.

Her best guess was that they were preparing the manor for the rest of the Death Eaters, but all she had was the guess. For her safety, she had told Brownie not to spy and to lie low for the time being. She didn't imagine they'd notice the elf, but there was no sense in taking chances.

But it wasn't long before they came for her. She supposed she should be honored. No Carrow this time. Lestrange came to escort her personally.

“Come,” she said when Pansy opened her door. “There's something the Dark Lord wants you to see.”

Pansy followed in silence to the manor's basement. All her life it been mainly used to as storage, but to her disgust, the Death Eaters had been converting it. All the treasure she had once had such fun discovering as girl had been removed to Morgana knew where and the many walls had been vanished to create one large open chamber.

No. That was quite right. As Pansy look closer, she could several smaller rooms lining the walls, each with a door of bars and one or two small cots.

A dungeon. They had made a dungeon in her beloved home.

Lestrange led her to one cell on the far wall. In it was an older blonde woman. Bruised and battered, she was unconscious on the floor. They hadn't even had the decency to lay her in her cot.

She looked vaguely familiar. Pansy was almost certain she'd seen the woman before.

“Who is she?” Pansy asked.

“Charity Burbage,” she answered. “Disgusting woman.”

 _Not half so disgusting as yourself_ , Pansy thought _._

“She believes that muggles and mudbloods are no different from proper witches like you and I. That they're as good as us. And for that she'll die. Any who stand against us will die.”

She looked at Pansy who forced herself to not looked away and nodded.

“When will it happen?” Pansy hoped her feigned innocence was convincing.

“At the meeting. You'll be allowed to watch, if you complete your task.”

Pansy thanked her and was taken back to her room. As they walked, Lestrange said, “You'll need to prepare for tonight. You and your family will be having dinner with us. You'll be given further instructions for your assignment there. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Re-confined to her room, Pansy was forced to do some fast thinking. Her initial plan to escape under the cover of the meeting would never work, not if she was expected to work for them. There would be too many eyes on them.

And then there was the problem of Prof. Burbage.

Since she'd been home, there was one line of thought she'd been pointedly avoiding. That was a luxury she could no longer afford.

They were right. The Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange and the rest of the Death Eaters were right. Purebloods _were_ better than everybody else. It was a simple fact of life. Her inclination at that moment was to disrupt any Death Eater plans, but maybe she should just worry about her family and let them get on with it. What did it matter to her if some of them get killed?

No. She couldn't make herself believe that.

She remembered back in their second year, when the Heir of Slytherin was attacking students. Draco was beside himself with glee, telling any Slytherin who would listen that he hoped a mudblood would die, hoped it would be Granger. She'd been so disgusted with him, she thought she'd be sick and hadn't spoken to him until that Hippogriff nearly killed him.

She hated the bitch as much as anybody-her interview with Rita Skeeter was proof of that if anything was-but didn't deserve to die for it. None of them did, even if Pansy had no particular interest in saving them.

Until now, that was. She was going to make the Death Eaters regret touching her family. And if she couldn't hurt them directly, then foiling there plans would have to do. As for the professor, well she was already spiriting five people out from under the watchful eyes of their captors. What was one more? She'd just have to work faster.

She sat down at her desk and scrawled off a final letter to Tonks.

_Ms. Tonks_

_They've kidnapped Prof. Burbage. If you come tonight, we can save he. Wait outside the border of Parkinson land and I'll send someone to get you._

  
Then after a thought, she begged:

  
_ Please _ _come._

  
_An Old Friend_

“Brownie,” she called.

“Yes, Miss Parkinson,” the elf said, appearing in front of her.

“I need you to take this to Tonks. Then come back immediately. With luck, she'll come tonight and we need to be ready,”

“Brownie will be ready,” she said, though Pansy could tell she wasn't as confident as she pretended.

“Good. Now she'll be waiting outside the property. You'll have to come and let me know she's here. You'll have to be careful, because I'll be with the Death Eaters tonight. Find some way to signal me and give me time to get back her. Then bring her to me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Miss Parkinson.”

“Good. Now be careful. I don't want you getting hurt.”

“Miss Parkinson shouldn't be worrying. No one ever sees a house elf that doesn't want to be seen.”

“I know. Now go! We don't have a lot of time.”

With the elf gone, Pansy had her work to do.

“Well,” she sighed to herself, “time to go be the perfect pureblood young lady.”

Pansy didn't need to act tense as she dined with her enemies. She was sure she could sense it, see it in her eyes. They just didn't know why.

She had chosen to wear her school uniform, down to the green and silver Slytherin tie. She even wore the beastly robes over her skirt and blouse. She knew it would make the best impression.

She had to force herself to listen as Bellatrix Lestrange explained the plan.

The families Voldemort had gathered were to be brought to the manor. Her parents and Scarlett were to convince the adults to join, just like Pansy was in charge of the Hogwarts students. Peri, at least, seemed to be spared any specific duty, other than serving as Pansy's incentive to cooperate.

While she wasn't trying to sneak peaks at the clock, she did hear who He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had gotten to and would be coming. Nearly all of her friends had been captured too, but not all of them. The Bulstrodes, the Davises and the Greengrasses weren't mentioned. Pansy hoped that meant the escaped. It was a nicer thought than the alternative.

As time and dinner went on, Pansy began to inwardly panic. Why wasn't Tonks there? Why hadn't she come?

It occurred to her that she didn't actually know if Tonks had been reading her letters. And if she did, there was no guarantee she believed them. Even if she had, maybe she couldn't do anything. Maybe her bosses wouldn't let her do anything.

Sitting there, she suddenly realized how weak and foolish her plan had really been.

She began running through ideas in her head of what she could do instead, each more implausible than the last. She knew she'd never convince all her friends to fight and she doubted even Brownie could steal the Death Eaters wands unseen.

She wanted to scream in frustration. She needed to get back to her room and come up with a new plan. There was no way she was giving up without a fight.

She was just about to ask if she could be excused, when she felt a tiny finger tap on her leg.

She fought hard to suppress a smile of triumph. Tonks had come.

“May I be excused,” she asked. “I'm very tired.”

The Death Eater shared a look between them, and she thought she saw Alecto smile. Clearly, they thought they gotten to her and that she was running away. Well they'd get theirs.

“Very well,” Lestrange said, “You're excused.”

Pansy left the dining room as quickly as she dared after thanking her captors. It was all she could do to keep herself from running to her room once she was out from under her watchful eyes.

Back in her room, she couldn't resist examining herself in the mirror. She did, after all, want to make a good impression for their reunion.

She heard an all too familiar pop behind her, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground and a feminine “Oof.” She turned around to greet her old idol with a smile on her face.

She was face-to-face with Nymphadora Tonks for the first time in nearly six years.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last chapter was milestone that I hadn't realized until after I'd posted. This is officially the longest story I've post so far (I'm working on a one shot that might temporarily knock it out of place).
> 
> Pansy, to me, is the quintessential Slytherin. She's been brought up to scheme and to put family first. She's aligning herself with the heroes, but she's not exactly heroic. We'll see as we go along how she develops.
> 
> With Pansy. I've decided in my head canon that she's less actively racist and more casually racist (like the Weasleys, but in a different form). Since this is a Pansy/Tonks fic, that will come more into play later.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	4. Questions of Trust

People who had witnessed her smash her face into the ground after tripping over her own feet would never have believed Tonks had her wand out and ready for combat with in seconds of her bottom hitting the floor.

But out it was.

Anyone who had seen her walk straight into a closed door while she was talking, would laughed in your face if you told them she took in everything about the room she found herself in just as quickly.

But words and conclusions ran through her mind as she scanned her surroundings. Location? Bedroom with alarmingly pink walls. Occupants? One careless house elf and one girl. Tall, probably taller than her. Hair? Black. Eyes? Blue. Young. Scarlett? Too young. Too old to be Peri. Must be Pansy.

No wand or weapon raised. Possibility of a surprise attack if Tonks was quick enough.

And her fellow aurors, the ones who arguably knew her better than anybody, would tell you that she was always quick witted on the job.

But that didn’t spare her the shock when the beaming girl lunged at her and threw her arms around her, squeezing her tight.

“You came!” her voice was filled with glee and surprise. “You actually came! I knew you would!”

Parkinson pulled back, still holding on tight to the auror’s shoulders and asked, “You didn’t come alone, did you? How many did you bring? Where are they? I’ll have Brownie bring them down.”

“Slow down,” Tonks said. She glance at her watch. She already been there for a minute. She didn’t have a lot of time.

“I’ll answer one of your questions. I’ve got about 20 aurors with me and if I don’t make contact with them soon, they’re going to storm the manor. So you’ve got about three and a half minutes to convince me this isn’t a trap.”

The girl’s face fell to plain disappointment.

“You don’t believe me?”

“I want to. But you can’t be too careful. Especially these days.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Her voice was going somewhat haughty, as if she just expected to be trusted. “I could make an unbreakable vow."

Tonks shook her head. "We'd need a witness."

"Well, what about veritaserum. I know that aurors carry a vial on them."

"We don't." Though Tonks wasn't surprised the girl believed it. It was a common myth, despite it being a well-controlled substance.

Pansy huffed. "Well, I don't know what you want from me then. I've told you everything I can. You've brought enough aurors, so you must have verified enough of what I'm saying is true. I just want out, but I've got my family to protect, all of whom have been tortured, including a ten year-old girl, so if you can’t or won’t help me, just go so I can figure something else out.”

She had said all of this very quickly and she was visibly fighting off tears by the end. Tears borne of frustration and the burden of the resistance she must have been putting up, is she was still fighting after being tortured.

And finally Tonks believed the girl.

Without another word, she pulled out her mirror and said, “Windsor.”

The face of a ginger, curly haired wizard appeared in the face of it.

“Tonks, it’s been been more than five minutes. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said, thinking that that was never five minutes. “Hold the rest of them back. I need to get more information. I’ll get back to you.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Windsor said, shaking his head. “Procedure and all. You could be compromised. I can’t risk it.”

_Bollocks_ , she thought. She turned to Parkinson and asked, “Where are the Death Eaters now? Do you know?”

“They’re in the dining room. With my parents.” The poor girl was looking horribly conused, but there wasn’t much time and Tonks couldn’t waste it explaining.

“Can you focus on the Death Eaters?” she asked Windsor. “We’re going after Burbage.”

“Right.” He dropped the call without another word.

Tonks shoved the mirror back into her pocket and turned back to the girl.

“You’ll have to show me where she is. Can you do that?”

She tried to balance tones of friendliness and urgency in her voice. Any past connection they may or may not have had to be put aside. Parkinson was a hostage and the situation needed to be handled delicately.

Part of her training-an important part-had been how to deal with civilians, especially ones who didn’t want to cooperate. She read Pansy, ad been reading her since she laid her eyes on her.

She was strong, but that would make her strong-willed. It wasn’t going to be easy to convince her to go with her, rather than run straight to her family’s side.

Pansy bit her bottom lip in hesitation and, as Tonks had predicted, said, “I guess...but can’t we help your partners first?”

“Of course we can,” Tonks lied, hating herself as she did every time she was forced to do so, “but it’s important that we get the professor to safety.”

“But why us? And why now?” The poor girl was practically pleading. “Can’t we send someone else? Can’t we leave her? She’ll be safe with the Death Eaters distracted. I want to help my family.”

Once, a very long time ago, after a night of babysitting the Weasley Twins, Arthur had talked in eager tones about a book of muggle science experiments he’d gotten for his birthday.

She barely remembered what he’d told her, she’d paid so little attention, but one bit stuck with her. He told her how the muggles once proved that most people would obey authority, even if they were being told to do horrible things.

So she spoke firmly, hoping she could keep the girl away from the other solution. All if would take is her remembering the elf and she’d never convince her to go with her.

“Because that’s not my mission. I have to get Charity. And I don’t know where she is; I’ll be lost for sure.”

Pansy, despite herself and she must have been feeling, looked decidedly please, which only succeeded in making Tonks feel _more_ guilty.

She, she continued, “We’ll get your family out, that’s a promise. But we have too hurry.”

Gritting her teeth, Pansy nodded.

“Let’s go,” she said and Tonks hardly had enough time to cast disillusionment charms on the two of them as she was forcibly dragged from the room by her hand.

“We don’t have to go _that_ fast!” she hissed as loudly as she dared. While it wasn’t likely, she didn’t want to be caught by any Death Eaters that might be on patrol.

“Sorry,” the girl whispered back and they slowed to a less conspicuous pace.

Tonks couldn’t help but marvel at the estate as she was lead through labyrinthine hallways of Parkinson Manor. Up til then, the largest home she’d ever visited was Number 12 Grimmauld Place. This place dwarfed the Black home by degrees of magnitude. She wondered how they managed to find their way around without a map. Maybe that’s why they needed so many elves.

Tonks slowed down a little more to keep herself from tripping . She could usually manage when she was really concentrating-or when adrenaline took over-but she had to focus on where they were going. It still wasn’t inconceivable that she was being led into a trap, and if so, she was going to need an escape route.

Pansy lead her to a final flight of stairs, but stopped before going down.

“This is it,” she said.

“What’s down there?” Tonks asked.

“I don’t know for sure. I’ve only been down there once since they turned it into a dungeon. She should be in a cell in the back, but that may have changed.”

Tonks frown. She didn’t like that Parkinson had waited until then to say this. Was it nerves or something sinister? She decided on the former. There would be no point in acting suspicious.

“Any guards?”

“I don’t think so. There weren’t any when they brought me down to see her.”

“Right. Well, wand out all the same. Stay by my side.”

That, she reckoned, was a good compromise. If Pansy was genuine, she couldn’t very well order her not to defend herself if things went south. On the other hand, Mad-Eye would have her guts for garters if he ever found out she let a potential enemy hide behind her.

They walked slowly down the stairs and into the dungeon. She could feel Pansy’s nervousness, turning frantically at every flickering shadow, or creek of the house. If Tonks were honest, she’d admit she felt the same, although she kept it together.

“Where’s her cell?” the auror asked.

“In the back. The very back.”

Tonks lagged slightly, letting herself be led towards to the back o the large chamber, all the while decidedly not liking where this was going.

They came to the cell and Tonks dropped turned her wand on Pansy, who was audibly looking wildly around.

“I don’t understand! She was here! I know she was.”

Pansy turned to face to where Tonks was and found a wand pointing between her eyes.

Tonks drooped Pansy disillusionment on the girl. Her eyes wide with panic, she pleaded, “She was here I swear. You have to believe me.”

The look in her eyes, Tonks _did_ believe her. She lowered the wand and took off her own disillusionment.

“Well, she’s not here now. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Of course, I would be happy to escort you both there.”

The two witches spun around to face the man the voice belonged to, their wands trained on him. Tonks didn’t recognize to face of the wizened old wizard who’d apparently waiting for them, but judging by his thick, Russian accent, Voldemort had dug him up from wherever he’d found Dolohov.

“Only one?” Tonks asked, keeping her dry calmness in her tone. “You’re looking a little outnumbered there, mate.”

“More will come. Once they’re done dealing with young lady’s family.”

Tonks shot a glance at Pansy from the corner of her eye. She could see her grip her wand tighten.

“Leave them alone.” Her voice was low and dangerous.

The man shrugged.

“I personally think you should be better rewarded for bringing us blood traitor’s daughter.”

“What are you talking about, I didn’t bring her to you.”

“You didn’t have to,” Tonks said. “Monitoring charm, am I right?” They’ve known I was coming as soon as you told the elf to get me.”

She was beginning to get a feel for the situation. The Death Eaters knew she was there. They’d probably knew or guessed more aurors were there and were focusing on them. Despite, the Russian’s words, she and Pansy were pretty low priority. Otherwise the’d have sent more to meet them.

When it came to a fight, they stood a decent chance. Even assuming Pansy was a sub par duelist, that was still two people for him to contend with.

His best hope was to scare them, taunt them, distract them, do anything to keep them talking until reinforcements arrived. That was the “script” as he saw it and as Mad-Eye was always saying when he wasn’t shouting “constant vigilance!”, a good auror never plays of the enemies script.

She broke the stand of by firing off a spell at the Death Eater. It didn’t hit him of course. She hadn’t expected it to. In fact, it hadn’t even been a real spell, just light. She’d wanted to see how he’d react. No need to waste energy on real magic for that.

Interesting. He’d dodged the spell rather than try to block it. Maybe his reaction time wasn’t up to snuff. Maybe he was just bad at defense magic. Or maybe he just wasn’t experienced enough o a duelist to know what to do. Either way...

It should have been an easy fight for the two witches. Had Tonks been with a trained partner, the two of them would have boxed the Russian in and quickly subdued him. Sadly, for all her courage and spirit, the Parkinson girl was not experienced. She didn’t know to double team him. So when he fired back with a very real blood-clotting hex, she blocked it rather than letting Tonks deal with it and take the golden opportunity for a killing shot.

Still, it worked out well enough. Tonks’ shield was enough to absorb it, but with the added strength of Pansy’s meant his hex ricocheted right back at him, forcing him once again to dodge.

“Nice one!” she said to the girl over her shoulder. It wasn’t ideal, but she could work with it.

The auror and the Death Eater dueled, her at a steady pace, him with increasing numbers of spells and each deadlier and showier than the last.

When she was younger and first decided she wanted to be an auror, her mum had gotten Moody to take her to a local dueling tournament. She never did find out whether her mum was trying to be supportive or trying to convince her to choose a safer career path, not that it made a difference at that point.

She remembered they’d seen some young upstart challenge the champion, a seasoned old warlock and had been thoroughly humiliated. He’d been a prat, showing off to the crowd with the most powerful spells, getting angrier and angrier as his opponent blocked each and every one with an almost lazy wave of his wand.

Moody had scoffed, saying, “Bugger fights like a young man, nothing held back.”

The fight had ended when the old wizard, apparently finally bored of the whole thing, hit him with a simple stunner while he was trying to conjure fiendfyre.

The Death Eater reminded her so much of that young wizard, with beads of sweat rolling down his face, twisted in rage. He was breathing heavily and his footing was beginning to slip. He’d go down soon.

“That all you got, love?” Where’d Voldy dig you up? He must really desperate if you’re the best he’s got.”

It wasn’t the most brilliant taunt she’d ever come up with in the heat of a battle, but you didn’t get points for creativity and anyway it worked. He roared in fury and tried to hit her with a killing curse. She avoided with ease, though she was distantly aware of Pansy shrieking her name in fear.

_Good_ , she thought. _He’s angry. He’ll mess up even more now._

“Your master won’t be happy that you couldn’t take little ol’ me. D’you suppose that’s what he wanted? A little thinning of the ranks, eh? Cutting off the dead weight?”

After being blocked once again Pansy, the Russian, finally tiring of trying to hit Tonks turned his wand on Pansy. Tonks was on him before he’d even at a chance to start the curse. She’d been expecting this for sometime. She couldn’t be sure what spell he’d use. She had to assume it’d be the killing curse.

She conjured a wall o glass in front of the young girl seconds before the green light hit her face. It shattered into dust and she’d have to be treated for countless nasty cuts later, but she was still alive.

Without missing a beat, Tonks turned her wand on the Death Eater.

“Bombarda!”

The spell blasted him against the wall, shattering several bones in the process. He landed in a shadowed corner and had crumpled over, serving to obscure from their view what must have been a grisly site.

Finally allowing herself to breathe, Tonks turned to her companion. The girl was still standing where she had been when the curse almost struct her. Trembling in ear clearly in shack. Tonks needed to get her out of there.

  
  


“Avada Kedavra!”

It was a distant shout, though he was feet from her. She should move, Pansy thought. She should really, really run. She should try and block it.

_There’s no blocking it. And there’s not counter curse._ That’s what Moody-Imposter Moody-had said, wasn’t it?

This was it, then. She could beg her paralyzed body into action, but she was dead anyway. What had she thought she’d been? The heroine in a novel. She’d been foolish.

The only thing she could do was face her death with dignity. She forced her eyes to stay open, forced herself not to flinch. She was going to stare down the curse that would be the end of her.

Then suddenly, the light changed. It was less bright, less green. Almost blurry.

And then it hit her.

No. No, it didn’t hit her. It hit something in front of her.

_Glass_ , she thought dully. _Why was there glass?_ She wasn’t sure.

Acting of their own accord, her eyes clenched shut and her arm raised itself to shield her face.

She heard the glass shattered and wondered why she didn’t feel anything. Surely she must be bleeding horribly.

Then, another sound. A voice, soft and feminine. Tonks.

She became aware of the auror’s hands on her arms, shaking her gently.

“Pansy? Pansy? Can you hear me? We’ve got to go.”

Pansy nodded.

“Can you call your house elf. She won’t come for me.”

Pansy nodded again.

“Brownie.”

The little elf didn’t come.

“Brownie?” She called again. “Brownie, come here. I need you.”

She’d grown so accustomed to the elf coming whenever she called that her continued absence disturbed Pansy more than anything else that’d happened to her that night.

“Brownie,” she cried frantically, her eyes edged with tears, “Brownie, you come here right now! Brownie! Brownie!”

“Pansy,” Tonks said gently, but firmly, “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to go now.”

She took her hand.

“I need you yo show me the way out. Can you do that?”

Pansy swallowed and managed, “Yes.

“Thank you.” She squeezed her had. “Don’t worry, you’re doing great.”

As they made their way through the halls, Pansy asked, “You’re not not taking me to my family, are you?”

“Pansy...I can’t. I just can’t Please try to understand. You’re injured. You’re clearly in shock. I’d just be getting you hurt or worse and I couldn’t live with that. You understand, don’t you?”

She gave Pansy a pained look.

Pansy started crying. The truth was she did understand, though she desperately wanted not to. And a small part o her was relieved, though she realized it made her a coward. And while she still would have gone to help had Tonks allowed it, she couldn’t help feeling grateful.

She followed Tonks, gripping the woman’s hand tightly as she directed her to a back entrance to the manor, far away from the dining hall, though not so far that she couldn’t hear the sounds of the battle. Pansy strained her ears trying to hear the voices, hoping to make out some sign that her parents were still alive. But of course that was all in vain.

Their own flight was easy. They moved quickly and encountered no one. Tonks kept her wand drawn, evidently expecting as they rounded every corner to come face-to-face with another of the Dark Lord’s minions, but the must all have been fighting the aurors.

They soon found themselves out of the manor and on the grounds.

Pansy looked around.

“Which way?” she asked.

“Straight. We’ve set up a perimeter. We’ll meet up with someone there. Come on.”

Pansy didn’t believe she could run any further, her sides were aching so. But Tonks didn’t wait for Pansy or give her time to object. She just dragged the young girl along with in her desperate bid for the forest that lined the south of the Parkinson estate.

“Can,” Pansy wheezed, “can’t we slow down?”

Tonks shook her head.

“No time. Besides, we’re nearly there.”

And they were. They couldn’t be more than 20 feet away. Pansy hadn’t noticed in her agony.

When they got to the trees, Tonks helped Pansy sit down and leaned her up against the trunk of an ancient oak.

“Try and catch your breath. All that running can’t have been good for your cuts. Just sit tight. I’ll get someone right away.”

She pointed her wand straight up and fired off red sparks.

Pansy was taking slow, deep breaths, but she couldn’t seem to go her heart from racing.

“Here,” Tonks said, crouching in front of her. She rook Pansy’s hands and placed them on the girl’s head. “Trick I learned at the academy. It’ll get more air into your lungs quicker.

She attempted a smile.

“You’ll be ok?”

Anything Pansy might have said was interrupted by a loud crack and the arrival of a short, squat wizard.

He took one look at the pair of them and swore.

“Bloody hell! What ‘appened ‘ere.”

“Never mind,” Tonks said quickly. “I’ll explain later. I need you to take her to the ministry. Get her a healer and some calming draft. She’s in shock.”

“Right. Let’s get going.”

Pansy, with the help of the two aurors, got shakily to her feet.

“Tonks...” she started.

The auror hugged her close. It was a simple gesture, but it did wonders for Pansy.

Tonks pulled away and looked Pansy dead in the eye.

“It’ll be alright. Do you understand. It’s going to be alright.”

And then she was off again, leaving pansy with the nameless wizard.

She desperately wanted to believe her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now they finally meet again. Not much to say on this one other than that the Moody bit about the duel is a Dark Knight Rises reference.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!


	5. After the Battle

“Out of the way! Move! Injured girl coming through! Unless you’re a bloody healer, get out of my way!”

Pansy was a little impressed that such a little man could shout so loudly.

She was being carried through the halls of the ministry. The auror, who’d introduced himself as Hubert Proudfoot, had insisted on it, despite her objections.

“I’m fine, I swear. I can walk,” she’d said.

“I’m sure you can,” he agreed. “But you’re bleedin’ from your arms and face and Tonks just had you run a bleedin’ marathon to get ‘ere, so I’m going to carry you the rest of the way.”

Then he picked her up like she was nothing and apparated.

They appeared into what she assumed was the Ministry of Magic, although she’d never been.

Crowded. That was the word for it. Even the halls of Hogwarts normally didn’t have this many people in them them.

And not just humans either. There were goblins, too. And Pansy even thought she saw a dwarf. Above them whirling around their heads were parchment airplanes.

And, though he was a good two heads shorter than everyone else (minus, of course, goblins and the dwarf), all made way for him as he stormed through the hall.

“Holding up?” he asked. He sounded genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine. Just a little light-headed.”

She was lying, but only just. She’d been hurt worse before, like the time she’d fallen of a hippogriff at Tracey’s debutante party. Of course, there hadn’t been as much blood. She looked down at her robes and felt like was going to throw up. Blood didn’t bother her, not usually. But there was so much...

Caught up in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed they’d reached a room. Save for it being private, it looked exactly like the infirmary at Hogwarts. Proudfoot set her down on the bed.

“‘Ow are you feelin’,” he asked again.

“A bit woozy,” she admitted.

“Don’t worry. A healer will be here soon. Charmed door, you see.” He sat down beside her. “Want to talk about what happened. OW!”

Proudfoot flinched at the stinging hex the witch, whom Pansy assumed must be the healer, had cast as she walked in.

“Get out,” she demanded. “There’ll be time enough to question her later.”

“I’m goin’, I’m goin’!” he said hastily, scurrying from the room faster than Pansy would have thought possible, closing the door behind him. She giggled despite herself, he’d been so funny.

The healer was still grumbling about aurors as she walked up to Pansy, but stopped as soon as she reached her. She was the grandmotherly type, even reminding her a little of one of her own grandmother’s gobstone partners.

“Dear me, you’ve had a bad day, haven’t you, dearie?”

“Broken glass,” Pansy said, not feeling like going into the full details.

“We’ll have to clean the cuts first, before we can close them. Just pop off into the other room, dearie and clean yourself off. It’ll sting a bit, mind.” She conjured a curtain. “Leave your robes behind, I may be able to clean them.

Pansy moved the curtain in front of the door so she could go directly to clean herself and preserve her modesty. Stripping down, she hung her robs on the curtain for the old witch, who was making a show of being interest in a rack of potion vials on the wall across from the.

Once inside, she carefully hung the rest of her clothes on the door knob and step inside the shower.

Instantly, a warm spray of water mixed with potion covered her. It did considerably more than “sting a bit” and Pansy distracted herself from the pain by wondering if it was a standard mix of potions or if the shower somehow detected what she needed. Either, it was a tasty piece of magic.

The shower turned off by itself and Pansy, seeing no towels, dried herself off with her wand before putting her clothes back on, wincing whenever the fabric brushed against a cut.

She stepped outside to find her robes back on the rack, looking as though they were brand new.

“Good,” the healer said. “Now just hop over here, dearie, and will have you as good as new in no time.”

Pansy sat back down on the bed and watched as her wounds closed as the witch waved her wand over them. She was pleased to see there didn’t seem to be any scars marring her.

“There,” the old witch said brightly. Gently, she continued, “Now, you’ll have to take a dose of blood-replenishing potion. It’s not the best tasting thing in Merlin’s realm, but it will help.”

Where she’d gotten it from, Pansy would never know, as she was quite certain it hadn’t been in her hands a moment earlier, but nonetheless, the healer pressed a vial into her hands. Pansy drank, retched and grimaced. The woman certainly had a flare for understatement. It tasted as though Magic itself had taken every bad thing she’d ever done in her life and created a potion out of it to punish her. It was a feat of magic on it’s own that she managed to swallow it.

The healer gave her a sympathetic smile as Pansy coughed. “I know, dearie, I know.”

“Please,” Pansy said, changing the subject, “when can I see my family?”

“I’m sure it will be soon. Until then, I’ll bet you’re feeling peckish. Let me go fetch you something a little more pleasant to eat.

  
  


Tonks followed the smoke to the battle. Or where it had been. As she approached, she noted the relative silence. While she and Parkinson we’re dealing with the Russian wizard, her team had apparently done a bang up job dealing with the Death Eaters. That or the Death Eaters had gotten them.

She forced herself to run faster.

She entered the dinning room, wand raised and found Edmund Windsor talking to a young wizard-probably a new recruit on training-that she didn’t recognize. She allowed herself to breathe.

When Edmund saw her, he waved the wizard off and strode toward her, wand raised.

“What’s your favorite Weird Sister’s song?” he asked.

“All the Young Wizards. What’s your least favorite way to pass time on duty?”

“Playing Dragon Poker.”

The holstered their wands and grinned at each other.

“What happened?” Tonks asked.

“Nothing too exciting. Once they realized we were here, the anti-apparition wards came down and most of them left. There were a few low level ones who stayed to fight, but we took care of them. I’m guessing they orders to cover the exit of the inner circle. Oh, and Bond said she found a dead Death Eater in the dungeons.”

Tonks gave her hand a quick wave and said, “Me.”

“Your turn,” he said. “What happened down there?”

Tonks gave him the highlighted version of what happened to her and Pansy.

“A trap within a trap.” Windsor chuckled humorlessly. “Can’t say I’m looking for forward to more of _that_. So, the Parkinson girl-Pansy, did you say?-she’ll be at the ministry?”

“Yeah,” Tonks said. “She needed to be treated after the duel and then I imagine Proudfoot’ll take her statement.”

“Oh.” Windsor looked uncomfortable.

“What...” Tonks recognized that look from him and it was never good news.

“Tonks, the Parkinsons left.”

Tonks blinked. Then swore. And then, for good measure, she swore again.

“What do mean left? With the Death Eaters?”

“I don’t know, probably not. They probably just took advantage of the battle and left.”

“And you didn’t stop them?” She roared.

Windsor glared at her. “Well, I was a little busy at the time.”

Tonks cooled down.

“Sorry. It’s just...” She thought of all the girl had done for them and they just abandoned her, just left her to contend with the Death Eaters without even trying to find her first.

“They just left her, Ed. Who does that?”

Windsor put his arm around her. “Hey, maybe they’ll be back. I’ll bet that they just need to regroup. They’re probably at the ministry right now waiting to pick her up.”

“Yeah, probably,” Tonks said, not really believing it. Her parents, after all, wouldn’t have left without her. “Come on, let’s finish the clean up and report back.

“I think that’s every one,” Robbards said, knowing full well everyone was there. After they’d reported back, the head auror had called them into the inner chamber. Most nights, it served as the aurors meeting spot for cards or bull sessions, but in cases like this it served it’s intended purpose as a war room. Aurors sat around the round table with their partners. Windsor and Bond, Hawlish and Dawlish, Savage and Proudfoot, and several pairings that Tonks didn’t know well enough yet to have learned their names. The seat to her left remained empty, the department having not gotten around to reassign her a partner. “Maybe with the next batch of recruits,” she kept hearing every year.

Robbards sat at the head.

“Let’s start with you, Bond,” he said. Tonks looked to Persephone Bond, with her long dark hair in a pony tail an eye patch across her left eye. The girl who was both her friend and sometimes broom girl when they went looking for a little temporary company had been lounging lazily in her chair but stood up when Robbards called on her.

“We arrived at Parkinson at approximately 6 o’clock and set up a perimeter. Then we waited until Tonks was summoned. Our sensors indicated that Tonks disappeared from the grounds at around 6:27. We waited the 5 minutes as per the plan and then began to move in.

“Shortly after that, Tonks made contact with Windsor and requested that we focus on the dining room, where most of the Death Eaters were supposed to be.

“We entered the manor by way of hole we cut in the side of the manor.”

“They didn’t have a ward for that?” Hawkes Hawlish asked with a scoff.

“That’s pureblood for you,” Bond said, earning some dirty looks that she ignored. “Anyway, we entered the dining room and engaged the Death Eaters. Pretty much as soon as we arrived, the anti-apparition wards cam down and the main Death Eaters disapparated. I can confirm sightings of Bellatrix Lestrange and the Carrows, Alecto and Amycus. We believe the other two who escaped we’re the other Lestranges.

“Three Death Eaters remained behind to fight us, all of which have been captured. We’ve identified two of them as the Snydes. We’re still working on identifying the last one.

“We also found a dead Death Eater in the dungeons. We haven’t identified him yet either.”

“And the Parkinsons?” Robbards asked.

“They disapparated, sir. Finn took the youngest daughter with him,” Bond looked at her notes on the table in front of her, “Peripugilliam. Guinevere took Mab and the oldest daughter Scarlett left on her own.”

Robbards grunted his approval. As Bond sat down, he called Tonks and she stood.

“Like Bond said, we arrived at Parkinson manor at five. I was taken to see Pansy by a house elf. I questioned her...” she debated arguing that it was less than five minutes, but let it go. She was going to have to try and gloss over the fact that she’d believed Pansy on instinct alone and while she’d turned out to be right, arguing that she’d taken a leap of faith on less than five minutes of conversation didn’t exactly make her look good.

She continued, “I determined that she was telling me the truth and made contact with Windsor. After that, Pansy took me to where they we’re keeping Professor Burbage. It was an ambush and we dueled the Death Eater Bond mentioned in the report. I won.” She could never bring herself to say she killed someone, never, no matter how justified.

“Pansy was injured and I took her to Proudfoot to be treated at the Ministry.”

“Treated for what?” Robbards asked.

“Multiple cuts, sir. The Death Eater tried to get Pansy with the Killing Curse and I conjured a sheet of glass to take the hit instead.”

There were a few impressed whistles around the table. Everyone knew the Killing Curse was unblockable by magic. Basic school stuff. But while it wasn’t a secret that physical barriers could block it, it wasn’t something many of them had even seen. If she hadn’t watched Dumbledore the year before...

“That...that was quick thinking,” Robbards said. “Proudfoot.”

Tonks sat down, relieved she hadn’t been questioned further.

“Well, I ‘ardly ‘ave anthing to add, now do I?” Proudfoot said.

“Just tell us what the Parkinson girl told you.”

Tonks only half-listened to the story she’d already heard from Pansy.

When he was finished, Robbards said, “Well, I’m glad the mission was easier than we all expected. You’ve all done excellent work tonight.” There were a few appreciative nods.

“We just have to figure out what we’re going to do with the girl.” Tonks’ heart fell. So the Parkinson’s family hadn’t come. “The law says that an underage witch or wizard must be placed with the closest available relative.”

“Well, who’s that?” one of the aurors Tonks didn’t know asked.

“Hell if know,” Robbards grunted. “Some of those old families are so interconnected, it basically a labyrinth. But you can see the problem. Whoever it is either a Death Eater, a Death Eater sympathizer or someone who’s just been threatened, assuming the girl’s testimony is accurate. And even if it isn’t, we can’t exactly give her back to Voldemort.”

He held his hands out and said, “I’m open to suggestions.”

“We could tie it up,” Dawlish suggested. “Demand she stay overnight for observation, ‘lose’ some paperwork identifying them.”

“That will only work for so long,” Savage said. “Once gold exchanges hands in the Wizengamot. We need to find something long term.”

“How old’s the girl,” Windsor asked. “Maybe we could have her emancipated.”

Proudfoot flipped through his notes. “She’s 16 and it says ‘ere her birthday is...August 31st.”

“Well that’s no good,” someone said. It’ll take that long just to get everything arranged and she’ll still have to stay somewhere.”

“Does the ministry really have no laws for this kind of scenario?”

The room devolved into discussion and suggestions until Bond, slouching again, said, “Look we just need her mum to pick her up, right? So let’s just do that.”

  
  


Back in her room, Pansy was pacing. She was getting restless from the waiting. The healer had brought her sandwiches, chocolate frogs and tea, all of which she devoured hungrily and gratefully, but it wasn’t much of a distraction. She’d tried to thumb through an issue of Witch Weekly that the healer had brought her, but how could she read.

She took deep, deliberate breaths. She had to look at this logically. If her family was dead or injured, they would have told her already.

But what if they didn’t? Or what if the aurors had decided her family had been in league with the Dark Lord? Maybe her family was already in Azkaban and they were just waiting to finalize the charges before they came for her.

And so she cycled through cold logic and pure panic.

“Good news!” the healer said, stopping Pansy in mid-pace as she came in. “You mother is here to pick you up.”

Pansy nearly knocked the witch over to see her family and had to sheepishly go back when she realized she didn’t actually know where to go. The healer lead her to a desk where her mom was standing by a wizard she assumed was an auror.

She ran up and hugged her mom.

“I was so worried.”

“It’s alright, Pansy.” Pansy looked at her mum. Her expression was as uncomfortable as her voice. Well, Pansy couldn’t blame her. It had been quite a trying time and they were still considered dark witches by most people. The sooner they could get out of there, the better.

“Just sign here, Mrs. Parkinson,” the wizard said, handing her a quill, “and then it’ll all be settled.”

“Of course, Mr. Windsor.”

Her mum took the quill and signed the parchment, not meeting Pansy’s eye.

“I’m telling you, she’s already being taken care.”

“I don’t care what you think you know, I demand to see my niece!”

The three of them turned to see a witch who looked like she might have been Cho Chang’s sister try and failing to stop the oncoming storm that was Narcissa Malfoy.

Windsor step between them and the Parkinsons and asked, “Can I help you?”

“I certainly hope so.” Her aunt scowled. “I’ve just received an owl that my niece is in custody. I’m here to pick her up.”

“Well, I apologize for the trouble you’ve gone to. I don’t know who sent you that owl.” There was something in his eyes that told Pansy he knew damn well that no one had sent the owl. “But as you can see, Pansy’s already spoken for.”

Narcissa looked at Pansy’s mum and her eyes narrowed. She stepped forward so that she was eye to eye with her.

“I don’t know who your are,” she growled, “but you are _not_ Guinevere.”

Pansy’s mum sighed.

“Cissa, it’s been a long day. Please, I just want to go home with my daughter.”

Narcissa shifted her hand, clearly going for her wand before thinking better of it.

“You don’t fool me. You’re Andy’s daughter. The metamorphmagus.”

“Ma’am,” Windsor said, “I can assure you, on my magic, that this isn’t Auror Tonks. But she is on duty. I can get her for you.”

Without waiting for answer, he took the quill back from her mum, scrawled a quick note and folded it into a paper airplane. He threw it down the hall.

“Now, can I get you ladies some tea while we wait for Tonks to comes and clears up this little misunderstanding?”

Narcissa huffed and scowled, but backed off. A moment later, Tonks came over.

“You said you needed a word, Ed?”

He waved back and forth between Narcissa and Pansy’s mum.

“She thinks you’re her.”

Tonks turned to Narcissa.

“Well that’s stupid. I’m me.” Pansy twisted her lips, repressing a smile.

“Prove it,” Narciss said with a sneer.

Tonks smirked back and turned her hair through a mix of colors and styles, before settling back on her spiky, pink hair.

“Good enough for you, Autie Cissa?” Tonks asked.

“Don’t think you’re fooling anyone.” Narcissa turned on her heel and stormed out.

“Well, that was something,” Tonks said to the two Parkinsons. “You’d better let me escort you out. Just in case.”

They followed her, but instead of taking them to the entrance, or even the floo line, she lead them into an empty room.

She turned around to face give them and Pansy saw that she looked incredibly sad.

“That was cruel what we did,” she said, “but we didn’t have a choice.”

“Tonks,” Pansy’s mum said, “do you want me to tell her?”

“No, I’d better do it. Go clean yourself up. We don’t you looking like that in case anyone else comes.

“What’s going on,” Pansy asked as her mum left her with Tonks. Tonks leaned against the wall.

“Pansy, you’re parents left. They apparated away during the fight.”

“But-” Pansy looked behind her where her mum had just left.

“That was one of our aurors. It was the only way we could think of get you out of here without anyone looking for you. There’s a law, see?” Tonks pushed herself off the wall and started pacing back and forth, much like Pansy had just been doing. “The law says you have to be released to your closest relative, but we knew that would just be sending you back.

“We were just going to forge the signature, but then she showed up.” Tonks practically spat. “Then we had to do the fake up. We’re just lucky we stalled her long enough to get some Polyjuice from the quartermaster.”

“So, my parents left me.” Pansy was numb.

Tonks looked as though she couldn’t whether she was going to cry or destroy something.

“I’m sorry, Pansy,” she finally said. “I don’t know what happened, I just know that when I got back to the manor, they were already gone.”

“So what happens to me now?”

“We were hoping you’d have an idea. Do you know where they might have gone? Any foreign relatives?”

Pansy shook her head. The Parkinsons were an old _British_ wizarding family. If they did have any branches on the continent, she certainly didn’t know about them.

“Well, that just leaves me.” Tonks said.

“You?”

“The law says you have to go with a relative, doesn’t it? With all the old families related, we’ve gotta be something like fourteenth, upside-down übercousins.”

Pansy smiled, despite herself.

“Come on,” Tonks said, putting her hand on Pansy’s shoulder. “You can stay with me until your family turns up or we find somewhere safer.

“Alright.”

Pansy felt a tug and the ministry melted away, replaced by a messy flat. She looked at Tonks, who sheepishly nudged a sock under a couch.

“Why don’t you...take a shower while I tidy up a bit and then we’ll see about some food.”

Pansy snorted, but she could use a shower. A real one, that is.

“Thank you, Tonks. Just through there?” She pointed to a door that looked like it led to a bathroom.

“Right through there,” Tonks said.

Tonks watched as Pansy disappeared into the bathroom, before half-hardheartedly attempting to create out of chaos. If only her mother could see he now, willingly cleaning.

The truth was Tonks was distracted. On top of everything else, Robbards had spoken to her privately after the meeting ended. She rolled her eyes. Proudfoot was “concerned” that Tonks had given Pansy a hug. Like aurors weren’t allowed to comfort victims. She raged in Robbards office until he was able to calm her down.

Despite agreeing with Tonks, he noted that she called the girl “Pansy” throughout her report. Cutting off another fit, he told her he just wanted her to be careful.

“Be careful,” she scoffed. What was the worst that could happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I avoid creating original characters in fanfic out of nothing. Therefore, most of the aurors you meet here have some basis somewhere. Savage and Proudfoot are mentioned somewhere in the books or Pottermore, as is Robbards. Dawlish actually appears on screen. Bond is my interpretation of the one-eyed witch in OotP. Hawkes Hawlish was what they were going to change Dawlish name to in the movies. Windsor and Cadwaldr may be the only ones without any basis, though they were both created as foils (Windsor to Bond and Cadwaldr to Tonks. Mab, Peri and Scarlett all started life this way too in a different fic and have stayed over). Incidentally, Windsor is the red-headed wizard who isn't a Weasley back in the prologue.
> 
> Of course, there's no meaningful difference between Bond and a completely original character, but I still prefer it that way.
> 
> As for a bit of the pureblood culture, I'm basing it on what I've seen from my ex-stepmom's Filipino community, where every adult is called aunt or uncle. Pansy and Tonks aren't related in any meaningful way. Also, "fourteenth, upside-down übercousins" comes from Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz series.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this. And, as always, thanks for reading!


	6. The Night Upon the Cliff

Pansy Parkinson lay alone in Tonks’ bed, unable to sleep. Despite Tonks’ promise of food, Pansy couldn’t have forced herself to eat and ask to go to bed, to which Tonks’ thankfully agreed, offering her her bed.

But sleep wasn’t coming. She hadn’t really expected it to; there was too much to think about.

Pansy was alone in the world. More or less. She did have Tonks, but despite her own fond memories of the witch, _she_ apparently hadn’t made an impression. Logically, that was reasonable. They only really spoken once, if you could call it that, and that was more than five years ago. But the insult still stung.

And Tonks wasn’t going to want her hanging around forever. She just felt sorry for her and was probably expecting her to leave in a few weeks for Hogwarts.

Hogwarts.

Pansys eyes clenched shut. She loved Hogwarts, but how could she ever go back? She defied the Dark Lord, the supreme leader of many of her friends’ parents. And with the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared dead... No, she wouldn’t last a week back in Hogwarts. She wouldn’t even survive the first night.

So _what_ she going to do? She was almost of age. That helped. On her birthday, she would come in to her trust fund. That also helped. But she still had one year left of schooling before becoming fully qualified and any job she wanted that wasn’t beneath her required highest marks in N.E.W.T.s. Thankfully, you didn’t need to actually attend school to take your N.E.W.T.s. The home schooled students sat them easily enough. Her parents had never considered this for her, of course, but she knew Crabbe and Goyle were almost home schooled. She would have to prove she’d been taking class which meant hiring tutors or going to another school.

Was that even possible? She’d certainly never heard of it happening, but surely someone in the history of magic must have done so. She thought about what school she might go to. Drumstrang was right out. Too much history of Dark Magic and connections with Death Eaters. She would barely be safer there than at Hogwarts and she still wanted to shake her family’s reputation in the eyes of society. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of Ilvermorny. She was _not_ a colonist.

Beauxbatons was promising, though it was still on the continent. Who knew how far the Dark Lord’s war would stretch this time around, especially since he had Death Eaters from Russia. It might be better to go as far away as she could.

But that would mean leaving England, her home and all of the advantages being one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight brought her and starting from scratch to build a name for herself. Sure there was a certain romanticism in pulling yourself up, but was it really practical?

Pansy sighed, finally drowsy. It wasn’t something she had to decided immediately, after all. She rolled over and smiled. It wasn’t her own, at home or in Hogwarts, but it was nice bed and it was comforting to be safe for the moment.

Tonks rolled over, silently cursing her lumpy couch. In the morning, she was going to have to modify her room so she could sleep in a bed too.

Not that sleep was coming to Tonks anyway. It had been one hell of a day after one hell of a week and there were too many thoughts plaguing her mind.

She still couldn’t believe Pans-Parkinson’s, she correct herself-family had left her behind for the Death Eaters to get. Was their no love in that family? No loyalty? No wonder she turned out the way Hermione and the others said. She would love nothing more than to track them down and...

She sighed and shook her head. That line of thought wasn’t productive. It was unlikely that she could track them down and even if she could, revenge wouldn’t make them take their daughter. She needed to focus on helping her.

Pansy. What to do with Pansy? Hogwarts was out. Sending her back to the Slytherins would be as bad as sending her with Narcissa. Sure, McGonagall as headmistress could arrange her different living quarters, but that would only protect her while she was there. She still had to take classes and Tonks had no doubt some of her classmates would love nothing more than to lure her into a trap.

The safest bet would be to smuggle her out of the country, but how? The ministry would be no help, they couldn’t even protect the girl under their own laws. That, and she didn’t know who she could trust anymore. The Order could help, but they had bigger things on their plate just then than helping one school girl. And that was even assuming they would even want to risk helping her. She was, after all, Malfoy’s ex and a known associate of other Death Eater children. She smiled, despite herself, at the temper tantrum Mad-Eye would throw if he ever found she was even staying there, let alone that his protégé wanted to expose the Order to her.

Forcing the image of Moody jumping up and down in fury out of her mind, she returned to the question at hand. What she really needed was foreign contacts that she could use to spirit Pansy away to safety that didn’t rely on either the Ministry or the Order. Which, she thought as she closed her eyes, she didn’t have.

A moment later, her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself up. She didn’t, but she knew someone who did. She grimaced. She didn’t like talking to him and they weren’t exactly on friendly terms anymore. But, she reasoned, that _was_ mostly on her end and he was always willing to do her a favor when she asked, even after everything.

She got up and searched around for a scrap of parchment and a quill as quietly as she could in the dark- she didn’t want to wake Pansy. When she finally laid her hands what she was looking for, she crept to the bathroom and closed the door before jotting a quick note.

_Meet me at the usual spot at the usual time with the usual signal._

She left it unsigned. Adwr would know who it was from anyway and if she was being watched, it would be harder to trace. Turning off the light, she crept back out of the bathroom and to the cage by the living room window. She opened it and gave the folded note to her owl, Yitzhak.

“You know what to do, boy,” she whispered, before opening the window and letting him fly out.

She spared only a moment watch him fly away before shutting the window and going back to the couch. Curling up and closing her eyes, she smiled. And, with the next step complete, she was finally able to drift off to sleep.

Tonks awoke to the sound of tapping at her window. Groggily, she tripped off of the couch and grumbled as she picked herself back up and walked to the window. Yitzhak was back, along with an owl she didn’t recognize. She let them iin. While Yitzhak went happily back to his cage, she read the letter from the unknown owl. It was from Robbards, telling her to take the day off.

She was both relieved and annoyed. On the one hand, she didn’t feel up to going into work, not after last night. On the other, it meant that she now actually had to spend time with Pansy and she had no idea what to say to her.

She seemed to be asleep still, though, which gave Tonks a little time. She fixed herself some cereal and coffee-no way was she going to duel with the stove _that_ morning- before curling back up on the couch and going back to sleep.

It was afternoon when Tonks woke again, to the sound of her guest trying and failing to walk out off the bedroom without making a sound.

“Sorry,” she said when Tonks sat up, “I didn’t mean to wake you. Just...do you have anything to eat?”

The girl’s stomach growled and she looked embarrassed. Tonks fought back a giggle. Pansy was probably feeling bad enough as it was.

“Help yourself to anything in the fridge. And don’t worry about it. I need to be up anyway.”

“Right,” Pansy said uncertainly. “Which one’s the ‘fridge’?”

Tonks cackled and Pansy blushed.

“I’m sorry. Here, I’ll show you.”

She walked with Pansy to the kitchen a pointed out her appliances.

“That’s the fridge. It keep things cold. That one’s the microwave. It heats thing up. Ignore what any box says about how long food needs to be in there. Two minutes is usually good. That one over there is the toaster. It makes toast. That’s-”

Pansy held up a finger.

“A stove. I know that one.”

Tonks smiled at Pansy, then scowled at the stove.

“Right. Well, don’t mess with that one.”

“Ok...” Pansy looked around, her eyes settling one the line of cereal on top of the fridge.

“I think I’ll just sick with cereal if that’s ok.”

Tonks laughed and said, “Yeah, it’s been that kind of day. Fair warning, all of it’s really sweet. I eat like a five year-old sugar addict.”

Pansy fixed herself a bowl of Frosties and sat down at the table. Tonks sat across from her.

 _We’ve got hours before meeting Adwr,_ she told herself. _No sense in being awkward._

“So,” she said, “you said you remember me from Hogwarts and I’m a horrible person, because I don’t remember you at all. You’re just going to have to tell me the story.”

“It was my first year,” Pansy said between bites. “Daphne and I were exploring the school after classes. Remember the school store? On the second floor near the portrait of Orion the Unwell?”

When Tonks nodded, she continued, “Well, we went in there and you walked in with your friends. One of them was Weasley. I don’t the other other ones. Anyway you saw me and teased me by turning your face to look like mine.”

Tonks thought back. She still didn’t really remember it, but it sounded like something she’d do.

“I used to say hi to you a lot,” Pansy said.

“That was you?!” Tonks said, beaming.

“That was me.”

“Huh. I always wondered who that was. No one could ever tell me.”

“I wondered what happened to you, too,” Pansy admitted.

“How’d you know I was an auror?”

“I didn’t. I sent Brownie...” she looked down at her cereal. When she looked back up, she continued, “I sent her to get a list of Aurors and your name was one the list.”

“And you picked me, because you remembered me?”

Pansy nodded. “You were the only one I really remembered. I sort of remembered, who was it, Bond. I think. And I tried to chat one of the ones at Hogsmeade once. But...”

Pansy shrugged by way of explanation.

“So,” Pansy asked, breaking the resulting silence they’d lulled into, “was that the weirdest reunion you’ve ever had?

“Oh no,” Tonks said with a laugh. “This one time I had arrest my ex. See...”

Tonks launched into the story, which led to her referencing other cases that Pansy asked about and Tonks told. And before Tonks knew it, hours had passed.

“...we never did get figure out where the pygmy puff got off too, though.” Tonks glanced out the window and, seeing that it was getting dark, stood up.

“Feel like getting some fresh air?” she said. “I’ve got an appointment and you’re welcome to come.” She had decided not to tell Pansy the purpose of the meeting ahead of time. She didn’t know how the girl would react and didn’t want to have a fight before they even got there.

Thankfully, Pansy agreed. Tonks didn’t really have a plan in case she said no.

“I wouldn’t getting out for a bit,” Pansy said, standing up too. “Where are we going?”

“The Witch’s Tit.” At Pansy’s expression, she said, “Yeah, it’s not the classiest name ever, but the pub’s alright. Anyway, hold still. You’ll need a glamour on you, just in case.”

Tonks waved her wand over Pansy. It was, if she did say so herself, a tidy bit of magic. She gave the girl Hermione’s face, Ginny’s hair and Luna’s figure. No one could possibly recognize her. She morphed herself into a familiar disguise.

“There, that’s done. Come on,” she noticed Pansy tensed a little as she threw her arm around her, “let’s go.”

They arrived in the lobby of the pub. The Witch’s Tit was the unofficial pub and headquarters of the Aurors, at least the younger crowd. She smiled appreciatively at the pretty blonde witch as she led her and Pansy to the booth at the back.

 _Pity I’m on business_ , she thought to herself. They sat down and ordered two butterbeers, and Tonks put up what privacy charms she could.

“Who are we meeting?” Pansy asked. “My old partner with the Aurors,” Tonks said, failing to keep herself from scowling.

“You don’t look very about it.”

“We...we had a falling out. I reckon I’m not being very reasonable about it, but...” It still hurt to think about.

“You can tell me if you like.”

Tonks shrugged as the barmaid set their drinks down.

“There’s not that much to tell. We entered the academy the same time, went through the Trioblóidí incident together and eventually became partners. Then World Cup happened and the Death Eaters showed there faces, so to speak, and he started losing his nerve.

And then Dumbledore announced Voldemort was back.” She took a sip of her beer, taking a moment to decide how much she should tell Pansy about the Order. She decided not to say anything yet. “I figured nothing would change, we’d just fight the Death Eaters together. I mean, isn’t that what we signed up for?”

She almost ranting at that point. “But the day after Dumbledore talked to the Prophet, the coward goes and resigns. We fought, I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t budge.”

Tonks saw that Pansy was pointedly not saying anything and a finished, “Look, I know. But it hurt. He was my best friend.”

“So why are we meeting him?” Pansy asked.

“Because I think he can help us and he’s always good for a favor when I really need one.”

“Good thing he doesn’t hold grudges.” Tonks ignored the hit of a smirk she saw on Pansy’s lips.

“Oh, I always pay him back. I’ve never turned him into the Ministry, even though I’m sure what he’s up to these days isn’t entirely on the up and up.”

“But is he really going to help us if he quit at the idea of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?”

Tonks finished another sip. “He won’t fight directly, no. But he knows people and he’s got connections. We can use those.”

She looked up. “And there he is now.”

Adwr Cadwaldr, who made even Charlie Weasley look short, walked in, looking the same as ever and still wearing that coat of his.

“Wait here,” Tonks said. She walked over to the booth where he was just sitting down.

“Wotcher, love,” she said. “Can you spare a quill for a pretty witch?”

A flash of recognition passed across his eyes, but he kept his expression neutral. As dug in his breast pocket, he said, “I use a pen.”

“Better still!” Tonks said brightly, taking it. As she walked back to their booth, she heard him ask the barmaid for a private room.

“Follow me,” Tonks said, taking Pansy by the hand. Pansy followed her to back of the pub, up the stairs and to the back of the hall, where Tonks disillusioned them. Soon after the barmaid brought a wizard-Tonks’ old partner, she guessed- to a private room. And soon as he was inside and the barmaid gone, Tonks pulled her to the room and through the door.

“Tonks,” the wizard said nodding at her.

“Cadwaldr,” she said dropping their disillusionment and their disguises.

The three of them sat down around a small table in the center of the room.

“What do you need this time, Tonks.” It was blunt but Pansy sensed...something in the question. Genuine concern or friendship or something. She already had the idea that the feud between them was mostly one-sided and this only fueled that belief.

“This is Pansy Parkinson. You know- _that_ Parkinson family? Her family was taken prisoner by Death Eaters and they escaped without her. I need a safe place for her to stay ‘til this war blows over.”

“What?” Pansy said.

Cadwaldr’s eye brows raised and he sighed as he pulled a small notebook from his pocket.

“You can’t ask for something easy.”

“If it was easy, I’d ask someone else.”

He nodded as if that was a fair point. “What did you have in mind?”

“She needs another year of school, so one of the magical schools would best, may not one on the continent, though.” She rubbed the back of her neck, apparently thinking. “You’d know this one, can you transfer schools?”

“You can.” He looked at Pansy, at least doing her the courtesy of acknowledging her. “You’re classes are accredited, but if they give you trouble, a bit of Parkinson gold should do the trick.”

“But-” Pansy was fuming. How dare they? They weren’t even asking her what she wanted. They were just going to shove her off some place and be done with her.

The real irony of it was that Pansy had been debating leaving just the night before, thinking the same things Tonks and Cadwaldr were. If Tonks had talked with her about it, she’d probably have gone with it. But now? Sitting there watching as her life was decided for her without her consent? She knew exactly what she still wanted to do.

“I want to fight,” she said. Tonks and Cadwaldr stopped mid-debate between the merits of Castelbruxo and Mahoutokoro to look at her.

Cadwaldr flipped through the pages of his notebook. “What about Israel, then? Their ministry doesn’t get up to much, but every so often they turn over a rock and find one of Grindelwald’s supporters. You’d-”

“I’m not running from V-voldemort,” she said, feeling more confident than she sounded.

“How old are you, Pansy?” Cadwaldr asked.

“17...almost.”

Cadwaldr shot a dirty look at Tonks who just looked confused.

“Look,” he said, turning back to her. “I admire your courage, if not not your intelligence, but this a war. You’re too young to remember the last time.”

“You’re not fighting,” Pansy cut in. “Tonks is. Why don’t I get to choose?”

“Pansy, you’re underage,” Tonks said.

“Only for a few more weeks!”

“Tonks,” Cadwaldr said, “You know I’ll do almost anything for you, but I’m not taking her anywhere she doesn’t want to go.”

“Adwr-”

“I’m not kidnapping for you.”

Tonks stood up and slammed her fist on the table. “Damn it, she’s too young!”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t defend myself! And stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

The argument died down as they all took a moment to catch their breaths and glare at each other.

Finally Cadwaldr-Adwr-said, “Look, we’re not doing any good shouting at each other. Tonks, what do you say we take her to the Cliff and see what she’s got. It’ll blow off some steam and she can see what it’s like in a real duel.”

Tonks didn’t look any happier than she had, but she nodded.

“Alright. Go on ahead and we’ll catch up.

Adwr apparated away and Pansy glared at Tonks.

“I’m not leaving,” she said again. “Even if you make me, I’ll just come back. You might as well train me and let me help.”

“Pansy-”

“And what was all that ‘you can stay until you find someplace else’ last night? If you were planning on moving me, you should have just said so.”

Pansy tried and, she suspected, failed at keeping the pain from her eyes. Tonks, for her part, look ashamed at the barb.

“Pansy, I...Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. And of course you’re welcome to stay. I just want you to be safe.”

Pansy harrumphed. She knew the auror had more than a point, but she wasn’t about to budge.

“What’s this Cliff anyway?”

Tonks sighed. “It’s an old auror training ground. It’s a good place to practice some of the nastier combat spells without risking hitting anybody else. Well, aside from your sparring partner.”

She walked over and threw her arm around Pansy again. “Look, I’m not saying I like the idea, but the least I can do is give you a fair chance. Ready?”

Pansy nodded and they apparated away.

They arrived in clearing line with trees and spotted with boulders. This must be the cliff.

Adwr was already there, his head and wand wand pointed to the sky.

“Alright, Cadwaldr?” Tonks asked.

“Just checking the wards,” he said without looking at them. “Mind checking them out, too? Never hurts to be sure.”

Tonks joined him, waving her wand around too. Pansy took the opportunity to look around. These were definitely training grounds. She could see a pile of stones that had once been a boulder and what looked like the char of spell damage on some of the trees. She gulped. Whoever dueled here didn’t play around, that was for certain.

“I think that’s everything,” Tonks said. She was standing next to her old partner, apparently done with his own check of the ward.

“Let’s get started then,” he said and the two of them shared their first smile since Pansy had seen them together.

“Let’s,” Tonks said and the two of them turned on her.

As one, the pair of them fired spells on her and it was all she could do to get her shield charm up, to avoid get hit by whatever curses they were slinging at her. This was to test her and they were clearly not going easy on her. She supposed she should have expect that.

Much to her surprised and relief, her shield was holding, bouncing most of the spells off-somehow-and she only had to dodge the odd few that got through. This gave her time to experiment, to get a feel for her opponents. Tonks was the aggressive one, throwing curses at her left and right, doing her best to keep Pansy in one place. Adwr was the defense man. Throwing out little, but powerful deflection spells. Get him and the match would be at least a little more even, or so she thought.

Pansy found herself becoming increasing frustrated at her inability to hex Adwr. It wouldn’t have been so bad in he blocked or even dodged her attacks, but he wasn’t even doing that. He was letting himself get hit. She tried focusing on Tonks, but again Adwr defended her.

Pansy ran, she had idea. Crouching behind a boulder, she kick off her shoes. She tossed one up and banished it straight into Adwr face. He swore, then laughed.

“Nice one, bach!”

“Don’t encourage her!” Tonks said.

In their distraction, Pansy was finally able to find a gap in their defense. She cast the Exploding Charm at the ground, far enough away that they weren’t in danger, but close enough that they were knocked off their feet.

Pansy summoned their wands to her so they couldn’t sucker spell her, strode over and stood over them, wand out.

Panting, she asked, “Did I win?”

She was bluffing. She was exhausted, both magically and physically. She couldn’t have cast another spell if He-Who-Must-Be-Named himself were there and offered her one free shot.

Adwr was laughing wildly as he and Tonks climbed to their feet.

“Yeah, bach,”Adwr said. “Yeah, you win.”

“Shut it,” Tonks growled.

“You shut it,” he shot back, cheerfully. “Kid, ignore her. She’s just sulking, because you proved her wrong. She can’t just say your a kid with big ideas. You fought two fully-trained Aurors-”

“One,” Tonks cut in.

“-And you held your own. And you,” he said, rounding on Tonks, “don’t you discourage her. Anyone with any sense is getting out while they still can. You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Tonks’ lips twisted into a mean sneer.

“You’re right, we do need help. And yet you’re leaving. Tell me Cadwaldr, aren’t you ashamed that your leaving a 16 year old-girl to fight a Dark Lord?”

“Very,” his sing-song accent still cheerful. “I think I’ll go drown my guilt on a beach somewhere.”

He walked off like he was going to apparate. But then he stopped. And then he turned around and stared sadly at Tonks. He said something that they couldn’t hear, but looked like it might have been, “Only 16.”

Shrugging off his overcoat, he walked back and gave it to Pansy.

“Well, I reckon you’re mad. You should come with me and leave the war to this,” he jerked his head at Tonks, “suicidal maniac. But if you’re bound and determined to stay, you should have this. Go on, put it on.”

Pansy did. It was much too big for her. Adwr chuckled humorlessly and crouched down on her level. “You look like a drowned puppy in it. But Molly or Andy should be able to fix it up for you. It’s charmed against all the curses I could manage. It’ll keep you safe until you get trained up a bit.”

He patted Pansy on the shoulder, “Just take care of yourself, Pansy.”

He stood up and walked off again, pausing once more to look back over his shoulder.

“Unless you’ve changed your mind, of course.”

When neither of them said anything, he shrugged and apparated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of references here. The code Tonks and Cadwaldr use to recognize each other is based on the code in From Russia With Love.
> 
> "I admire your courage, if not your intelligence," comes from a late episode of M*A*S*H.
> 
> The by-play between Tonks and Cadwaldr were some of the first things I wrote when outlining this story (after the prologue) and they ended up being some of the most fun things to write.
> 
> I can't tell you how happy I was to see so many hits this week on the story. I hope you're enjoying it and, as always, thanks for reading!


	7. Return to Parkinson Manor

Tonks woke up and thought she either desperately needed a new couch or she needed to definitely get around to expanding her room and copying the bed. The night before, after the duel, she was too sore and exhausted to bother. And she and Pansy needed space from each other. Today, though...

She sat up and saw Pansy, arms crossed and glaring, already sitting at the table. _Damn_. Tonks was hoping for a little more time. Well, it wasn’t to be. She got up and held a finger up to Pansy as she walked past her and into kitchen to the fridge where she found the sweet nectar of life: orange juice.

There was only a little left and she held the bottle out to Pansy in silent offering. When she shook her head “no”, Tonks shrugged down the rest of it straight from the bottle.

Leaving the bottle on the counter-she’d get to it later, she swore-she sat across from Pansy.

“Still mad about last night?” she asked.

“A little. Are you?”

Tonks sighed. “Look, I’m not going apologize for trying to keep you safe. You’re still a kid-legally, yes you are,” She saw Pansy’s mouth open and guessed her objection, “I’m an auror. It’s my job. But you’re...look, you’re not as helpless as I expected and I know kids your age who are fighting. And even if you were, I still stood should have talked with you first.”

“So...”

“So...let’s talk. I’m not promising anything, but I will hear you out.”

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Pansy said arms uncrossing and expression softening. “I already told you I want to fight. This is my home too and even if there’s little left for me here, there’s nothing for me abroad.”

“So, aside from wanting to fight, what exactly are you planning to do?”

Pansy pointedly didn’t meet Tonks’ eye.

“I haven’t gotten that far yet,” she admitted. Tonks snorted.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, this is your first war.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. You’ve still got the trace on you, so that limits what you can do. I can’t exactly bring to the ministry, can I?”

“Not even as an intern?” Pansy asked. “I know the ministry hires those.”

“Too much trouble,” Tonks said. “Remember, officially you’re with your family. We had to lie about that, already. I guess we could again, but I still think you should keep a low profile. We know some of Voldemort’s supporters are in the Ministry.”

“So it doesn’t have to be Pansy Parkinson that interns. It could be, I don’t know, Morgana MacAbre.”

Tonks raised an eyebrow, recognizing the name as the heroine in series of trashy romance novels, her mum pretended not to read. Pansy blushed.

“Shut up. It was the first name that came to mind.”

Tonks twisted her lips, trying to suppress a smile.

“That would mean forging all kinds of records. I’m not exactly keen on breaking the law.” Now it was her turn to avoid Pansy’s eye. Forging records would be one of the least illegal things she’d done in the past year. But ironically one of the most likely to get her in trouble if she were to get caught. Most Order business could be played off as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But you couldn’t accidentally create a false identity for someone.

There was still the Order. She still didn’t think they would go for Pansy, but it was a way to pacify Pansy, at least until her birthday or they could think of something better. And if Pansy was staying, it’s not like she wouldn’t put the pieces together sooner, rather than later.

“Look,” Tonks finally said, “I’m not promising anything, but I do know some people who are fighting back. I can ask them. It would help if there was something you particularly good at it.”

Pansy expression turned from one of impatience to one of haughtiness Tonks’ well knew. It never ceased to amaze and amuse her how the pureblood elite got so offended at even the hint of an implication there was anything magical they weren’t good at.

“ _Particularly_ good,” Tonks repeated.

“Potions is my best subject,” Pansy said, not really looking mollified but most likely realizing the pointlessness of letting the perceived slight get in the way of everything. “I’m better at practical magic than theory, but if I can’t do magic here, I’m not bad at research.”

“Potions and essays. Right. Well, if that’s settled for now, I want to have breakfast. I hope you don’t mind cereal.”

Pansy’s stomach growled. Tonks winced. With the cereal yesterday and crackers as snacks in the afternoon, neither of them had actually had a proper meal since before the raid on Parkinson manor. Pansy, for her part, looked torn between good manners and trying not to starve.

Tonks looked doubtfully at the stove. Pansy grinned.

“You can’t cook, can you?”

“I can cook! It’s just...that wretched stove. It’s dangerous on the top and crafty on the inside.”

“So you can’t cook.”

“Can you?” Tonks snapped. When Pansy opened her mouth, she add, “With a muggle stove and no magic.”

That shut Pansy up. Briefly.

“Well, it can’t be that difficult. The muggles do it.”

Tonks decided to let that one slide, because she saw an opportunity.

“Alright, then prove it. Put your money where your mouth is.”

She walked into her kitchen and found a cookbook her mum had given her in the hopes that she wouldn’t have to eat out every other night. She walked back and gave it to Pansy, along with her wallet.

“Here, if you’re so good, you’re in charge of breakfast. There should be enough money in there for what you need. There’s a shop around the corner, you should be safe enough going there and back. Just let me take care of you’re disguise.”

“Aren’t you coming with me,” Pansy asked, looking doubtfully at the paper in Tonks’ wallet.

“I need to take care of a few things around here if we’re going to be roommates. Besides, you’ll get sick of me if I don’t let you out on the town every once in awhile, now won’t you?” She winked at her new charge.

“Just make enough noise if there’s trouble and I’ll come running.”

She walked to the door and opened it, raising her eyes at Pansy expectantly. Pansy in return straightened her shoulders and strode out with confidence Tonks doubted she actually had.

“See you soon,” she said brightly as Pansy walked past her before closing the door.

“Well,” she said to herself, “time to make this place habitable for the little princess.”

_Stupid bloody Tonks_ , Pansy thought to herself as she pushed the cart through the crowded market. After leaving Tonks’ flat, she’d sat on the steps of the building and leafed through the cookbook she’d been given. She needed something that would impress Tonks obviously, but not something that looked to difficult to make. The closest she’d ever come to cooking was potions and that stove looked nothing like a cauldron’s fire.

Once she’d decided on their dish-eggs, sausage and beans with an array of fruits and vegetables-she had to find the store that was "right around the corner". Of course, Tonks couldn’t have done the decent thing and told her exactly where the store was, so Pansy had had to guess and then double back twice until she finally found it.

Inside, she’d found the largest store she’d ever seen. Only Honeyduke’s came anywhere close and even that paled in comparison. She pretended not to be shocked as she watched the muggles-people- around her. Most of them were taking carts from a line near the door, so she took one two and followed them in further.

She had no idea where anything was, she didn’t even know where to guess, she’d never bought food for herself before. But she refused to ask and look like a fool, so she started one end and walked through the aisles.

She had a suspicion it would have taken Tonks a quarter of the time to navigated the beastly store. Pansy was forced to go back and forth looking at everything, sometimes going back when she missed something. There were several near misses as people who weren’t paying attention almost rammed into her.

Pansy finally stepped in line, knowing she had far too much of each of the ingredients. Stupid bloody muggles and their stupid bloody measurements. What in the name of Morgana was an “ml”? Nevermind. She could figure that out late. It was better to have extra anyway. She could always tells Tonks that she wanted to have leftovers.

The only thing that made sense to her was the money. The little sheets of parchment in Tonks’ wallet, with numbers like 1, 5 and 20, corresponded, as near as she could tell, to the numbers on the shelves. It she was right, it was a simple matter of adding it all up. Far more sensible than having to convert knuts to galleons. Well, even the muggles had to beat them some of time.

As she got closer to the front, the person in front of her starting putting his groceries on the moving platform that delivered them to the clerk. Their version of the summoning charm, she supposed. Well, when in Avalon. She put her groceries behind his.

The man turned around and scowled at her. Pansy stared him down.

“What?” she demanded.

Put the oaf didn’t answer her. Still glaring, pick of a rod made out of-what was it called again? Plapstick?-and slammed it in between his groceries and hers.

What? Was he afraid her things would contaminate his? As if! He turned around still grumbling and Pansy had to resist the urge to make a nasty gesture at him. After all these years, she still half-believed her mother would somehow know.

Her mother. Pansy hadn’t wanted to think about her. Could she risk sending an owl? Did she even want to? So far as she knew, her parents hadn’t even tried to find her. Hadn’t even tried to contact her. But maybe they couldn’t. She had no idea where they might have fled. There was never any talk of what would happen if this sort of thing happened. They’d been foolish, so un-Slytherin like not to prepare for that sort of thing, no matter how untouchable they thought they were.

“Come on!” an old lady shouted behind her. “Get moving!”

Pansy was snapped from her introspection. The man in front of her had finished and now it was her turn. Tightening her jaw so as not to snap-it really had been her fault-Pansy stepped forward just as the clerk had finished bagging her things.

“That’ll be be £ 10.62, miss.”

Pansy opened up Tonks’ wallet. She had enough. Easily. At least assuming she was doing the maths right. Still, it wasn’t like Tonks had a lot of money. How much could an auror really make? She didn’t want to spend too much of her money on just one meal.

“That’s a little steep for just a bit of food, don’t you think? What do you say we call it £8 even?”

A befuddled expression came over the clerk. This couldn’t have been the first time someone had haggled with him. Maybe this was his first day.

“Prices are as listed, miss.”

“Well, I’m sure you could do a little better than that. I’d like to see your boss, please.”

“Just shut up and pay him!” The old lady nudged her with her cart. “You’re holding up the line.”

Pansy opened up her mouth to say something incredibly rude, but the clerk cut her off.

“He’ll just say the same as me. Please, could you just pay?”

Pansy so very much wanted to start an argument, to dig in her heals and force the issue. But this was probably a place that Tonks came to often and she didn’t want to make trouble for her. Not when she was still on the fence at best about Pansy staying with her.

“Fine,” Pansy spat, throwing eleven’s worth of the parchment on the counter. “But I’m never coming back.”

“Good!” said the old lady as Pansy snatched up her bags and her change. She gave into the temptation to make her rude gesture at the lady, the clerk and the world in general, barley managing to keep hold of the coins as she stalked off.

  
  


Tonks sulked. It hadn’t been her day.

It had all started when she tried to expand her bedroom. She wasn’t good at what her mother called “domestic” spells and never had been. So the first time she tried, the room ended up as a pentagon. She should have stopped there. While not quite big enough, the effort to fix wasn’t worth it. Her room had taken all manner of uneven shapes, with one side to skinny while the other side was the size of the Great Hall or the floor bent at an odd angle, forcing her to try and walk up the wall to get to her bed until gravity caught up with her.

And gravity was not Tonks’ friend.

It even turned into a couple of shapes Tonks’ didn’t even think humans had words for.

And when she finally got that sorted, she had to contend with the bed. First try with the duplication charm and the second only half appeared. Specifically, the left half. Then the bed appeared normal but collapsed into a cloud of dust the minute Tonks flopped on it, sending her hurdling to the floor and into a coughing fit.

The third seemed to believe it was a niffler and started rooting through her closet and ran around the room before Tonks could corner and vanish it.

It was enough that Tonks nearly caved and broke her seventh most sacred oath: Never let her mum “help” with her flat.

Even if she had access to a pensieve, she didn’t think she’d be able to the understand how she got it, if not exactly model, then at the very least presentable. Then it was a mad dash to hide any debris from immediate sight, a practice she called, “stuffing and fluffing”.

She had just flopped down on her sofa with a magazine when Pansy stormed in in a huff.

“Hey,” was all the auror dared to say as the girl made a broomline for the kitchen. She didn’t say anything herself except to ask what “in the name of Merlin’s bloody tit” mL meant. After that, Tonks left her to rummage through the pots and pans and explore the eclectic and incomplete array of spices.

Tonks stuffed another bite of egg and glared. At her fork, at her plate and at the smirking face of Pansy Parkinson.

Pansy had finally cooled down by the time she said breakfast was ready. Tonks sat down at her table and let herself be served. Sausage and eggs, beans and berries. It was a safe enough choice. It even smelled good. But lots of things smelled good that tasted terrible.

The first bite cemented the day as bad luck, the frosting on the bedroom fiasco cake. This breakfast, the same one she’d been eating for years, was the best tasting homecooked meal she’d remember having in a long time. It might even rival Molly Weasley’s fare.

An involuntary, “Mmm!” escaped her before she could stop herself and that’s when the smirking started.

Pansy at least had the decency to leave it at the smirking until Tonks was finished.

“So this is where you say, ‘not bad’ and try to pretend that wasn’t scrumptious?”

If Tonks couldn’t do something to reign in Pansy’s ego, this was going to be a long whatever.

“Go ahead and gloat. You’ve just volunteered yourself to doing all the cooking.”

“Fine by me.”

“So,” Tonks said slowly, “you seemed a bit put out when you came back. Did something happen?”

Tonks listened as Pansy recounted her adventure at the shop. Tonks lips tugged at the edges, but she managed to keep her poker face, if only barely. She had a feeling that the girl wasn’t telling her everything.

“Yeah,” she said. “Muggles don’t really haggle. At least not in most shops. Thanks for trying to save me some money, though.”

“Well, it wasn’t entirely altruistic. I want to be able to keep eating.”

“If you can keep cooking like that, I think I can scrape together enough to keep you in supplies.”

Pansy smiled. Not her usual smirk, but a genuine smile. Possibly the first true one she’d seen from her. At least the first she remembered. She really was a lovely young woman when she was at ease.

“So, what’s the plan for the day?” Pansy asked.

“There’s not much of one,” Tonks said with a stretch. “I have to meet up with those people later, but that’s not until this evening. Other than that…”

She shrugged.

“Was there something you wanted to do?”

Pansy crossed her arms. Appearing fascinated with Tonks’ floor, she said, “I have to do it. I just don’t really want to.”

“What is it?”

“Well…” putting on a strong face, Pansy finally looked up. “If I’m going to be staying here for awhile, I should probably get some of my things. Not everything. Just, you know...just the essentials.”

“Ah.” Tonks heart sank. She should have expected this. “Of course. Whenever you’re ready.”

“I want to get it done as soon as possible.” She was back to the scowling, this time to the dirty plate in front of her. “We should probably do the dishes first.”

“Leave them,” Tonks said, standing up. “That’s the third rule of living hear. There’s no chore that can’t be put off ‘til tomorrow.”

Snorting, Pansy stood up.

“What are the first two?”

“Dunno. I’ll let you know when I think of them. You can apparate, right.”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t have my license yet, but I can do it.”

“Right,” Tonks said, smacking her face. “I keep forgetting you’ve got a late birthday. Nevermind, then. Actually, it’s probably better this way. I don’t know actually know if the trace can track side-along apparation, but we shouldn’t risk it. You’re supposed to be… Well, you’re not supposed to be at my flat anyway.

She put her hand on Pansy’s shoulder, but Pansy hesitated.

“Wait,” she said. “Do you think it’s safe? There could be Death Eaters around.”

“Good thinking!” And she meant it. It was impressive for 7th year. “But don’t worry about it. It’s still a crime scene. There’ll still be Unspeakables looking it over. The Death Eaters won’t be back.”

“Oh.” Pansy said. “Will they let us take my things, then? Won’t it be evidence?”

“They should. I can’t imagine they’ll learn too much from your shoes.” Tonks winked at her. “Now are you ready?”

Pansy nodded. Making sure she had a good grip on her, Tonks apparated them away.

They appeared inside Pansy’s room. That was best, Tonks thought. She was afraid the sight of the rest of her home would be too upsetting for the witch. Hopefully, she wouldn’t ask.

As Pansy pulled her trunk from her closet, that Tonks couldn’t help notice was bigger than her entire room growing up, and started stuffing clothes into, Tonks took the time to explore. She hadn’t really taken it in the first time, what with the crisis at hand. It was one her weirder quirks that she like looking around other people’s personal space. She guessed it came down her natural auror nosiness. The need to know everything about everyone else.

She was looking through the books, glancing back every so often to see if Pansy need help with anything. She’d moved on from the closet and was now working her way through the vanity.

They weren’t sort of books she expected from the girl. Along with her textbooks, all carefully organized, her novels mostly featuring the ravishing and ever-keen Morgana McAbre, the bookcases held books of almost every subject imaginable. From history and geneology to legend and folklore. From true crime and mystery to art and drawing. Tonks even thought she saw, stuffed beside what look suspiciously like a sketch book, what look like a book on muggle studies. It seemed the Slytherin princess quite the voracious reader. She wondered if Hermione knew.

Tonks was amusing herself with the thought of the two girls dueling over that last copy of a rare tome in Flourish and Blotts when Pansy came up beside her.

“Do you like them?” she asked, clearly rather proud of the collection.

“Yeah. I just didn’t realize you read so much.”

“Not as much as I used too,” Pansy admitted. “Not as much as I like. But it passes the time. I just don’t know how I’m going to bring all of them with me.”

Tonks suppressed a smile.

“I can actually help you there.” Hermione thought her a spell, dead useful for packing. Only Tonks had only ever gotten to work for books and papers and she didn’t want to risk anything else. She waved her wand and said, “Prestidigitonium!”

One by one the books shrank down to a manageable size. Of course, Hermione had been able to make the books dance one-by-one into her bag, but really, that was just showing off.

“Wow!” Pansy said, scooping up piles of books into her trunk. “You’ve got to teach me that spell. Is it only books or can it pack other things?”

“I can only do books. I’m pants at homey spells. But I’ll get you started. And don’t you worry. If you ever need anything, we can always come back.”

She looked down and Pansy’s trunk, already filled to the brim. Pansy was frowning at it, clearly trying to see if there was a way to fit anything else in their.

“What we really need to do,” Tonks said, “is get a trunk like Moody’s. That’s something else. It’s gotten seven compartments and one of them’s big enough that you can live it in. I wouldn’t recommend it though. My dad’s cousin did and the spell broke while he was in it. They bury they trunk. Swear to Merlin.”

Pansy snorted and looked up at her.

“You’re having me on.”

“No! Well,” Tonks said with a smile, “Maybe a little. Did it work?”

“No. Well…maybe a little.”

She looked around and sighed.

“You want to get out of here?” Tonks asked.

Instead of answering, Pansy walked ober to her bed and sat down.

“Just give a minute, yeah?”

“What ever you need.”

Pansy pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took on and lit it. After taking a long drag, she she took it out and sighed again.

Tonks considered chiding her for being too young, but she figured the girl had earned a free. Instead, she sat down beside her and nicked one from her pack.

“You smoke?” Pansy asked as Tonks took her own drag.

“Not normally,” Tonks said. “It’s not good for you if you have to run down a suspect. But every now and then it takes the edge off, you know?”

She put her arm around Pansy. “You going to be ok?”

Pansy hugged her back. “Yeah, I’ll be alright. It’s just...once I leave, it’s real. Maybe if I wait long enough, I’ll wake up and I’ll be back at Hogwarts.”

She looked up at Tonks. “Have ever felt like that?”

Tonks nodded and said, “Ever since Dumbledore died, I keep expecting him to walk in and explain everything.”

Tonks didn’t meet Pansy’s eye. It was still hard for her to talk about.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Pansy said. At Tonks’ unasked question. “What Draco was planning I thought he was just bragging like he always does. I never thought he’d…”

“I know,” Tonks said. “We never really know anyone.”

Pansy stood up suddenly. Tonks stood up too.

“Did you see something?” she asked.

“No. I’m ready to go. I just need to one last thing.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “Brownie.”

Tonks sincerely wished the elf would pop up in front of them, if only for Pansy’s sake. But it was not to be.

“I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hand on Pansy’s shoulder. “Ready?”

They apparated back to the apartment.

“I’ll let you get settled in. Do you want me in there,” Tonks asked, “or would you like some privacy?”

“I’d like to be alone for a bit, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Tonks said. “I’ll just be out here on the sofa if you need me listening to the match?”

“Who’s playing?”

“Arrows Vs. Harpies. Who do you support?”

“Arrows, obviously.” It as was if it shouldn’t even be a question in Pansy’s mind.

“Oh,” Tonks said very seriously.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. I just didn’t know I was better than you.”

Tonks couldn’t control herself and giggled furiously at the indignant look on Pansy’s face, her mouth gaping open.

“Go!” Tonks shooed her into the bedroom, on her way to the wireless. “The bed closest to the door is mine. Just in case. Far side of the room is yours to do what you like with. Within reason. I’m here, so you should be able to do a bit of magic if you’d like. Just don’t go overboard, yeah.”

Pansy off on her own, Tonks turned into the match just in time to here the Arrows score against the Harpies. She pouted. Definitely not her day.

Pansy holed herself up in the room for most of the day. Tonks occasionally checked in on her, offering her tea or a snack, but Pansy was always to busy. She was making good headway, organizing her things in wait little space she had and decorating it enough to make it homey.

Tonks had her vindication when the Harpies pulled through. She’d have to have Hestia congratulate Gwenog when she saw her. After the match, she flipped through the channels, alternating between singing along badly to the Hobgoblins and listening to the lasted adventures of the Demiguise. All-in-all, it was a bit of much need relaxation after a hard week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep forgetting this and I won't again. The first (of, like, 6) Pansy/Tonks fics I've read was Evil Angel by lightblue-nymphadora and I'd be remiss if I didn't say it provided the spark for this idea years ago. However, aside from Tonks and Pansy fighting the dark side, there won't be much in the way of similarities. But you go read that fic out, over on FF.net. It's a good one.
> 
> This chapter was originally going to include the Battle of Seven Potters, but grew in the telling (too much comedic value out of magical misshaps which are all too rare in canon and fish-out-of-water scenarios.
> 
> I don't know exactly how the Trace works. It probably wouldn't detect Pansy, given that it doesn't detect Dumbledore and Harry, but who knows.
> 
> By now you know my love of references so here we go:
> 
> * Morgana Macawber is Darkwing Duck's love interest. Given the pun and how many Scottish romance novels there are, it felt like a good fit.  
> *Prestidigitonium is from the Sword and the stone (I left out higgitus piggitus et al.)  
> *Harry thinks something about expecting Dumbledore to walk in and explain things.
> 
> I think that's all.
> 
> See you back next week. And thanks for reading!


	8. The Move

When Tonks looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time to go to the Order meeting, she went to find Pansy. Still in her-their-room, she’d finished with her decoration and was curled up on her with one of her books, _Muggles Who Notice._ She looked up from her book when Tonks walked in.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“What’s up,” Pansy asked.

“I’ve got to go out for a bit. I’m going to meet those people I told you about.”

“Can I come?”

Tonks shook her head. “Maybe next time. I’ve got to tell them about you first. I want you to stay here, understand. I won’t be gone long. A couple hours, maybe There’s some leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry and I’ll my wallet if you want take out.” She could feel herself looking sheepish. “Just press one on the phone-it’s the thing hanging on the wall by the clock-if you want pizza. Pepperonis always a good bet. Or two if you fancy Chinese.”

Pansy was only the second person she’d ever confessed to that she had carry out on speed dial. But the significance was lost on the girl.

“ Any questions?”

“What do I do if there’s an emergency.” Once again, Tonks found herself pleased with Pansy’s thinking.

“Apparate as far as you can and hold out your wand. The Knight bus’ll come and get you.”

“The Knight Bus?”

“It’s transportation for people in an emergency. Tell them to take you 38 Stansfield Road in Brixton. My parents live there. Tell them I sent you and they’ll take care of you until I get back.”

“Anything else.”

“Yeah, if you take the bus, feel free to hex Stan if he can’t keep his eyes in.”

“Stan?” Tonks had meant as a joke, but it was between her and the conductor and she was just confusing the poor girl.

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved the question off. “I’ll explain it later.  Just stay in relax and I’ll be back before you know it.”

Pansy put the book down she’d still been holding and sat up.

“I…” she looked as though she were struggling to find the words. “Just be careful ok. You’re all I’ve got left.”

The truth of those words broke Tonks’ heart. She walked over and tossled Pansy’s soft, black hair.

“Hey, don’t worry. The only danger I’ll be in is of being bored to tears.”

The two shared a smile and Tonks apparated away.

The Order co uldn’t meet at Number 12 Grimmauld Place anymore. Flitwick had been quite clear on that point. Dumbledore was the secret keeper and with Dumbledore dead anyone he’d told was now a secret keeper as well. Everybody including Snape.

Mad-Eye Moody had fought long and hard to have his home be the new headquarters, his paranoid desire for absolutely security outweighing his distrust of ever having anyone in his home. Kingsley had overruled him, saying there were just too many booby traps for  the Order to navigate that Moody would refuse to take down.

And so Tonks found herself crammed into kitchen of the dilapidated house that wasn’t affectionately called the Burrow.

Tonks had spend many a happy a summer there growing up, back when Molly was still trying to set her up with either Bill or Charlie. She wished she was visiting on better circumstances.

The new de facto head of the Order, Moody started the meeting off with his usual reminder for “constant vigilance”. Tonks snickered to herself at the memory of one the auror recruits jinxing him to saying constant flatulence instead.  She never did figure out who did it, though she had her suspicions.

The next order of business for everybody to give their reports. It was more of the same. Lupin was still struggling with convince the werewolves to stay out, especially since he’d pulled back from his duties following his marriage. It was getting harder and harder for the lot of them to keep the muggles from finding out about magic, with Voldemort’s giants and dementors terrorizing the country side, but so far nothing had leak.

Tonks own mission was brought up, but her postponed in favor of the main matter at hand. It was July 13 th . In a little less than three weeks, Harry Potter would turn 17 and the blood wards protect his house would be gone. The Order’s next big mission was to smuggle him out of the house before the Voldemort and the Death Eaters got him. The only question was how.

There were enough ideas to satisfy 12 Orders. Molly was of the opinion that he should be moved to Hogwarts immediately. That idea was shot down pretty quickly and Tonks wasn’t entirely sure why. Others suggested moving him out of the country for training, with others who knew him better saying would never agree to it.

“You’re all missing the point,” Moody growled, startling them enough that they all fell silent. “We can worry about  _where_ we’re moving him too after we figure out  _how_ we’re going to move him. He’ll still have the trace on him until his birthday.”

“So we’ll just wait until birthday, then.” Bill said. “Then we can apparate him anywhere we like.”

“We thought about that. But Mundungus,” Moody nodded at the old crook, “brought up a good point. That will be the day the Death Eaters are expecting it. We’re going to move him a little bit before, the 29 th or the 30 th and throw them off their track.”

Moody’s lips twisted into what probably passed as a smile for him. He did so love it when people thought things through. Constant vigilance.

With out magical options such as apparation and portkeys out. The next obvious was floo powder, but that was turned down on account of how it could be watched. After that brooms, the Knight Bus-suggested by Tonks-and even the  Hagrid’s old motorcycle were brought up. Somewhere in the debate, Mundungus suggested using them all. From there the plan form.

Six of them would take polyjuice potion and pretend to be Harry. They and the real Harry would all leave the house at the same time. That way, even if the Death Eaters were watching the house they wouldn’t know which to follow.

It was a good plan, Tonks had to admit. She’d gained a new respect for Mundungus that evening. Still, something about the plan bothered her.

“Hang on,” she said, as Kingsley and Lupin were finalizing the list of who would be decoy Harrys, “I think we’re missing something here. We’re banking on the Death Eaters only sending a few people, but Harry has shown that he can take on plenty of him. How many times has Voldemort tried to kill him now? 4 times? If he’s smart, he’ll send enough to make sure the job is done right.”

“What are you thinking?” Moody asked. From any one else it might have sounded dismissive, but Tonks knew he would listen to anything she had to say when it came to taking extreme precaution.

“Our decoy plan is good, but we need to take  it a step further. It’s like a muggle shell game,” she nodded at the Weasley twins. “It works best when the pebble isn’t there to begin with. By the time the decoys leave, Harry should already be gone.”

“I appreciate your constant vigilance, but that brings us back to how to smuggle him out again.”

“ Well, aren’t the muggles leaving too. Why doesn’t he just leave with them?”

And so it was settle. They would smuggle Harry out in one of the suit cases the Dursleys took with them in the car. They’d drive him to the whatever safe house the decided on. In the meantime, the decoys would leave Number 4 Privet Drive.

Feeling quite pleased her self, Tonks was getting ready to leave as the meeting wrapped up.

“Hang on,” Bill said, “We’ve forgotten about Tonks.”

_Thanks, Bill_ , she thought.

Every turned to her. Reluctantly, Tonks got to her feet. For some reason, speaking to the order was always so much harder than talking to her fellow aurors. The ability to move helped calm her, even if it made her more likely to trip.

“Forgive me for making a long story short, guys. I’ve already had to tell this story a couple of times this week. We got an anonymous regarding a Death Eater meeting at Parkinson  manor the day after the funeral. More letters came and we eventually determined to the details to be true. Or at least true enough to warrant a raid. I made contact with their middle daughter, Pansy. While we were trying to save Professor Burbage, the rest of the aurors  stormed the manor. We were able to capture three low level Death Eaters escaped.

“What did the Parkinsons have to say about all this,” Lupin asked.

“We don’t know. After I took Pansy to be healed, I found out they left."

Molly Weasley was aghast, all opinions on other pureblood families apparently pushed from her mind.

“They just left her by herself?! Didn’t they come back for her?”

“They haven’t so far,” Tonks said.

“So where is she now?” This was Emmeline Vance-Emmeline _Lupin._

Tonks held back a cringe. She had still been hopping that that one would slide.

“She’s staying with me.”

Again, silence. Mad-Eye’s mad eye bore deep into her, making her feel like the boggart hidden in the old headquarters.

“Well, I couldn’t just leave her, could I?” she said, answering the unasked question. “The law says she has to stay with a relative. I haven’t gone through the family tree lately, but you’ve got to know that anyone closer to me would be sending her back into their hands.”

Moody stared her down a while longer and she knew he was testing her. When she held her ground, he nodded slightly. This wasn’t over, she knew. They would have words later. But that would be in private and for now he was respecting her judgment.

“Well, you let me know if she needs anything all.” Molly was now in full mother mode. “I think it’s just awful. That poor girl!”

Tonks took the opportunity of the chatter to slip away. There would be time to convince them to let Pansy help later.

Pansy was still up when Tonks apparated back, though she’d moved from the bedroom to curl up on the sofa, listening to the radio. Not for the first time did Tonks think that she really need to get a TV like her dad had.

In the table in front of her was a delicious smelling pizza. She grabbed a pizza and took a large, unladylike bite of it as she joined Pansy.

Pansy had glanced up when Tonks had come in, but had been to engrossed in what she was doing to do anymore than nod. Now up close, Tonks could see that Pansy was working on a drawing. She had sketched out a clearing was a gorgeous hippogryff.

“Wow,” Tonks said.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” Tonks confirmed.

“Just something to pass the time.” Pansy closed the book and set on the table. “How did it go tonight? With your friends.”

“It went...about as well as it could have been expect.”

She gave the girl a highly edited version the nights events, ended up leaving out practically everything.

“So am I going to be allow to help?” Pansy asked.

“We’re still going to talk about it.” It was true enough. “But they’re ok with you being here. That was my biggest theory. So that’s a good sign.”

“But _when_ will you know for sure.” Pansy was going to let up.

Smiling, Tonks said, “Ready to fight the whole war all by yourself, are you? Be patient.”

“But I’m not!”

Tonks laughed and tousled her hair again. “You’re going to have to be. At least until tomorrow. I’m going to bed.”

Polishing off the last of the pizza, she stood and said, “You don’t have to go to bed with me...that came out wrong. What I mean, you can stay up as late as you want. Shut it.”

Pansy smirked and said, “I’m going to stay up a little bit longer. I’m a bit of a night owl. I’ll keep it light.”

“Good night, then.”

“Night, Tonks.”

Tonks slammed her knee into the table getting up, sparking a fit of laughter from Pansy. Grumbling, she made her way to bed. Pulling on her night shirt, she was glad that Pansy had decided to stay up. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to sharing a room.

Tomorrow, Tonks decided climbing into bed. She’d owl Mad-Eye tomorrow. Pansy wasn’t going to wait much longer and, really, she was stalling. Best to get it over with.

At peace with her decisions, Tonks rolled over and soon drifted off to sleep.

Pansy woke late, having stayed up later than she really should of, and found Tonks doing a deep clean of her house.

Someone was coming over, she’d been told. Someone called Moody. But whether that was the same Moody who was supposed to teach them two years ago, she didn’t know. Tonks was busy trying to make the bathroom sparkle and it soon became clear that Pansy wasn’t going to get any answers until the apartment was presentable to her host’s satisfaction. So Pansy left Tonks to and went to find her charms book.

Pansy didn’t know any homey spells as Tonks had called them. She had never had to learn. But admitting ignorance was against the Parkinson standard. If she didn’t know something, she had to learn and be better than everyone else. So Pansy sat on the floor and thumbed through the book, looking for spells.

When she found on that looked promising, she read it over a few times, practicing the wand movements before getting up. She pushed out all thoughts of Brownie and turned her attention to the pile of dirty dishes that had escaped the sink and invaded the counter space. Taking a deep breath, waved her wand and said the spell.

“ _Liquetio!_ ”

Pansy was disappointed. The book had showed a picture of the dishes dancing as the scrubbed themselves clean. Still, they were getting clean and that was the main thing. From what she’d seen so far, she’d have plenty of time to practice.

After she’d cleared the dishes, the counter had to be attended to. Pansy learned the Scourgifying charm for that one. And after that, the floors need sweeping. Pansy was particularly proud of herself for figuring out how to use the Banishing charm to push the dust and debris into one corner before vanishing it away. It’s not something Pansy would ever call fun, but there was certain satisfaction in mastering any spell.

Pansy had moved on from the kitchen and was working her way through the living room, when a frenzied Tonks came in.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were helping. Thanks. That’ll make things go faster.”

Together, they made short work of the clutter. Pansy wanted to barrage Tonks with questions as soon as the auror had declared it “good enough”, but she restrained herself. Sitting patiently as Tonks got them both some tea, before finally broaching the subject again.

“So...Moody? Who is he?”

“He’s an ex-auror. One of the best. Oh that’s lovely.” Tonks took another long sip of tea. “He was the one who trained me when I joined the academy.”

“ So he was the one who was going to teach us  fourth year.”

Even now, it was hard to imagine that a Death Eater had been the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor they’d ever had.

“Yeah. Pity he never got to teach you for real.”

“And he’s coming here.”

Tonks nodded. “I owled him this morning. He was one of the people I met yesterday. He’s kind of in charge, actually.”

“Did something happen?” Pansy asked, slightly panicked, she knew logically that if there was an emergency, Tonks wouldn’t have acted like the queen was coming over. “Why do you need to see him again.”

“Well, it’s you, isn’t it?”

Pansy felt giddy. Was Tonks saying what she thought she was?

Trying and failure to maintain her composure, Pansy simply said, “Me?”

“Moody is as paranoid as anyone. If he says you’re alright, then no one will question him. And then you’ll be able to help.”

It sounded like the easiest thing Pansy had been asked to since leaving Hogwarts. Charm a powerful and influential potential ally? She’d been trained to do that almost as soon as she could talk.

“Well, then I’d better be prepared. What do I need to know before he gets here?”

Tonks glanced to the side, before looking back at Pansy.

“You know how I said he was paranoid?”

Pansy nodded.

“Well, there’s really no way to really explain how paranoid he is. Just…” Tonks nodded her head back and forth, as if she was looking for the right words, “Just expect to go through a lot of tests.”

“Is he dangerous?” Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all.

“Oh, yeah. No!” Tonks added quickly. “That’s not what I meant. He’s not going to hurt you or anything. He’s just going to grill you a lot. And…mayyyyybe use a dark detector or twelve on you before he’s satisfied.”

Pansy mulled over Tonks’ words. She knew about dark detectors. Her parents even had a few of them in the manor. They had used them for some of their business dealings. Pansy wasn’t quite sure what they did, her parents had kept her out of that side of their life. She understood some of them were fairly nasty. She hoped Moody wasn’t planning on using any of those on her.

No. That wasn’t going to happen. This was an ex-auror and someone Tonks trusted implicity. And someone who Tonks friends let lead them. And she had a pretty good idea who was in charge before him. And Pansy trusted Tonks. Whatever was going to happen, everything was going to be alright.

“What happens after he accepts me?”

Tonks returned to her cheery self and smiled at her. “Not scared of being cast out as a dark witch, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m charming.”

“Humble too. Once he decides you’re not plotting the downfall of the wizarding world as we know it and if- _if_ -he decides you can help, we’ll tell you the mission and start preparing for it. Honestly, even I don’t know what he’ll have you do.”

Pansy nodded. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear that she’d be trained in whatever secret spells Dumbledore taught them all and then pointed in the direction of Bellatrix Lestrange. But if this was her first step proving herself so be it.

“When will he be here?” Pansy asked.

“Dunno. He said he come by after he took care of things. I didn’t ask.”

Just at that moment, there was a knock at the door.

“Bloody hell,” Tonks mumbled getting up, “He’s always doing that. Showing up when we’re talking about him. I swears he’s magicked it so he knows.”

Pansy stayed seated, watching as Tonks greeted and led Moody into the apartment.

“So you’re Parkinson girl,” he growled by way of greeting.

“Pleasure to finally meet you, Professor.”

She held out her hand to shake his, but he just sat down.

“I don’t shake hands. I’ve known too many good witches and wizards that have been hexed that way. Constant vigilance.”

Pansy shrugged and put her down, taking in the wizard before. He was just as she remembered. Long, scraggly silver hair, with his unnerving blue eye rolling in his socket. She’d never seen him so close and she found herself wondering, not for the first time what took that chunk out of his nose. She glanced over at Tonks, who was fidgeting in her seat beside him. Maybe she’d save that question for another day.

Instead, she pulled up her sleeves and showed the wizard her arms.

“Look, sir. No Dark Mark.”

“He didn’t mark all of his followers. I’ve been doing some checking up on you, girl,” he said. He pulled out a tiny note book. “Tonks vouches for you, but she wouldn’t be the first to be bewitched by the dark side.”

“I imagine you have questions, I’ll answer. I have nothing to hide.”

Moody’s mouth twisted. “Everyone has something to hide. Mostly what I want to know how a known associate of Draco Malfoy ended up informing on the Dark Lord.”

“Well,” Pansy started, but Moody held up his hand. Pansy watched as he conjured a strange twisty metal object with what appeared to be a saucer on the end of it.

“Go on.”

“As I was saying,” Pansy sat back. “Let’s start with Draco Malfoy. Yes, I dated Draco. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. He’s pretty and he was nice to me. I wasn’t looking for much else in a snogging partner. That doesn’t mean we talked a lot of politics. We didn’t do much talking at all.”

She pasted a rueful smile on her face, hoping it would put them at ease. Moody wasn’t impressed. As she had been talking the device started letting out a soft, dull hum.

“Hmm,” Moody clucked. “The secrecy sensor says you’re mostly telling the truth. But it looks as though you’re holding up something back. Care to amend your statement?”

So that’s what was it was. Some sort of lie detector. She went over what she said, trying to suss out where she’d stretched the truth.

“Look, I’m not saying I didn’t know what Draco’s loyalties were, but that doesn’t mean I agreed with i...with everything he said. I didn’t really think about it. I had that luxury then. I don’t anymore.”

She glared at the secrecy sensor, defying it to hum. The wretched thing had the manners to stay silent.

But if Pansy thought that would satisfied the old man, she was sorely mistaken. He pressed on.

“And the Death Eaters?”

Pansy thought for moment, choosing her words more carefully.

“A few days after Professor Dumbledore died, my parents pulled me out of Hogwarts. I found out when we got home that there were Death Eaters there. Bellatrix Lestrange and the Carrows. They took me to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named. He wanted me to tell him about my classmates and whether their families were loyal. But then I found out he was a Legilimens and just wanted to make say it out loud.”

She glanced at sensor. Silence. So far, so good.

Pansy had a flash of inspiration.  _If it can tell when I’m lying, I can use that to my advantage_ , she thought.

“That was bad enough, but they were taking my little sister to leave as I was led back to my room. I punched Bellatrix in the face and she used the Cruciatus curse on me. That’s when I start looking for ways to spy on them.

It was with a swell of pride and triumph thatMoody and even Tonks, her with glee her eyes, consulted the secrecy sensor. Pansy had never heard such a beautiful silence.

Moody turned to Tonks.

“I like her. I hope she’s really on our side, because I like her.” To Pansy he said, “Go on. I’m not done with you yet, girl.”

“Understood. I decided to talk to the aurors. I sent my house elf to get me a list of names.”

“What made you choose Tonks?”

“I remembered her from school and I remember her being nice to me.”

From the corner of her eye, Pansy swore that she saw the sensor twitch ever so slightly. But if it it did, the others didn’t notice and she certainly wasn’t going to say anything.

“That’s about it,” Pansy finished. “I’m sure Tonks told you the rest of the story.”

“So all you're after is revenge?”

“Ye-” the bloody sensor interrupted her by humming to life. Pansy groaned. “Ok, fine. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t seen some opportunity in fighting him if we won. I’m still a Slytherin after all. But I do want to revenge. And I do want to fight. So, does it really matter why I want to fight?”

“It could,” Moody said. “What if the Dark Lord decides to give you a better offer?”

Pansy didn’t think he really mean it and even Tonks had lightened up.

“Oh, come on Mad-Eye. Even You-Know-Who’s most convoluted plans don’t involve that many layers.”

“And what would you know of it,” Moody scoffed.

“So, do you trust me?” Pansy asked.

“I believe you think you’re telling the truth, but that can be fooled. I’ve got another test for you.”

Next Moody conjured something Pansy later learned was called a foe glass. She was made to stand in front of it next to both Moody and Tonks. Though the foe glass look liked any other mirror on the outside, all she saw in it was her shadow. Apparently this was a good thing, because it was banished with out further comment.

Then came the sneakoscope. Pansy actually recognized that one. They’d become popular in her fifth year during the great Wheezes epidemic. It too failed to produce any results.

Moody’s next idea was to prod her with something called a probity probe, but Tonks drew the line and Pansy had lost her patience.

In an outburst she’d be ashamed of later, she said, “At this point you either trust me or you don’t. What else do you want, an unbreakable vow?”

There was an idea.

“Actually, let’s do that.” She rolled up her sleeve. “That’ll settle it.”

Tonks and Moody shared a look.

“You’d really do it, wouldn’t you girl?” Moody whispered.

“We don’t do unbreakable vows, Pansy,” Tonks said. “Too many ways for it to go wrong.”

She turned to the old wizard and asked, “Are you happy now, Mad-Eye?”

Pansy had the distinct feeling that Moody was more put out that he hadn’t found a spy more than anything else.

“For now,” he said. “But I’ll be keeping my eye on you, girl.”

His eye spun round wildly in his socket, cementing his point.

Tonks punched the air. “Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Pansy!”

“Probationary member only,” Moody growled. “You’re still haven’t come of age and you’re still in school.”

The Order of the Phoenix. Pansy wasn’t sure what that was, but it certainly _sounded_ suitably sufficient. Pansy Parkinson, Order of the Phoenix.

“So I’m in, then? I can fight?”

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that, but be ready just in case. Constant-”

“Just tell her the plan,” Tonks said.

Moody growled again, but didn’t finish his catch phrase.

Pansy listened intently as the two of them laid out her part of the plan.

“And what if I don’t give you my hairs?” Harry said.

Tonks found herself, a long with had to be half the order, crammed into the tiny living room the was the Dursley’s house at Number 4 Privet Drive. There 7 decoy potters: Ron, Hermione, Fred, George,  Emmeline , Fleur and Mundungus of all people. Tonks had expected to be asked, but Mad-Eye assigned her to guarding Ron, saying that the Death Eaters would be more likely to go after an auror. Lucky her.

Along with her and Mad-Eye, there was Hagrid, Kingsley, Lupin, Bill and Arthur. Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle we’re there as well, their mission to protect the Dursley and the real Harry until he arrived at his safe house, wherever that was. All-in-all, that might quite the crowd surrounding the Dursleys. If she hadn’t known how the muggles had treated Harry-and if it hadn’t been so funny-she might have even felt sorry for them. The uncle-Vernon, was it- looked torn between trying to argue with them and trying to hide underneath a table and cry until they went away. His wife was doing her best to sit properly and look everywhere but directly at them. Only Dudley seemed to be anywhere close to at ease with with situation.

Harry, Tonks found, hadn’t been told about the plan ahead of time, another one of Mad-Eye’s security plans. She had to admire what looked to be genuine willingness to fight every last one of them to avoid having his friend’s polyjuice themselves.

“Then we’ll stun you and take by force and stuff you in a trunk anyway,” said Moody.

“Harry,” Tonks said, “I know you don’t like the idea, but we really did think of everything. We can’t use anything magical, because you’ve got the trace. And we can’t wait until your birthday, because your mother’s protection will drop the moment you turn 17.”

“What about floo powder?” He asked, still not backing down.”

“They can be watched. We even thought about the knight bus, but it’s too public.”

Harry opened his mouth several times, looking for more suggestions, more arguments, but none came.

Finally, he said, “I still don’t.”

“Here, here!” mumbled Vernon Dursley. It might have been the first thing the two had ever agreed upon, Tonks wouldn’t wonder.

“Duly noted and ignored,” Mad-Eye said. “Both of you. Now, if we’ve wasted enough time?”

Harry consented to having his hairs plucked and while the decoys were taking their potions and changing clothes, he asked, “So where are you taking me, anyway?”

“That’s a secret,” Tonks answered, Moody too busy pairing up guards and Harrys. “Even Moody doesn’t know. If we know, then the Death Eaters can torture it out of us. So before we came in, Arthur charmed your uncle’s car. It’ll drive them to one of the safe houses. Might make a few detours though.”

Tonks was talking fast by the end. She’d never even heard of such a spell, much less that Arthur knew it. It must have been all those years tinkering around with muggle artifacts.

“Right,” Moody said. “Just you left.”

He pulled out a tiny, wooden box from his pocket and placed it on the ground in front of Harry. With one of beat of his staff, the box grew into a full-szed trunk and Harry was knocked off his feet trying to get out of the way in time.

“Welcome to your traveling accommodations,” Moody said. “Get in.”

Tonks stopped snickering. “I wouldn’t do it, Harry. I-”

She was greeted with a noseful of staff.

“If you tell that joke again…”

“Oh, lay off Mad-Eye,” she said. “I’m just trying to relax him.”

They helped Harry into the trunk, then passed Hedwig’s cage down too him, along with some other things to keep him occupied.

“Wow!” Harry’s voiced called up, distant from the size of the trunk.

“Pretty neat, huh?” Tonks said.

“It’s like a whole flat in here.”

“Just mind you don’t anything down there,” Moody called down. “I’ve taken out all the traps, but nonetheless...constant vigilance.”

“You going be alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry said. “Just take care of yourselves.”

“Got too,” she chirped, happily. “Got tickets to a concert next week. Later, Harry!”

Closing the door to the trunk, Tonks helped Moody take it out and load into the back of the Dursely’s car, the family in question following behind.

“No funny business,” Moody said to Vernon once the trunk was secure. “Diggle and Jones will take you someplace safe after you’ve made your delivery and stay with you long enough to make sure you’re protected. After that, I don’t really care what you do. But if this car doesn’t make it to its destination, well…”

He lifter up the bowler covering up his mad-eye.

“We’ll find you,” he finished.

“ _All_ of us,” Tonks added. Mr. Dursley looked back inside to crowd still inside his house. Some of them, the ones who’d overheard the conversation, were smiling evil at him.

Dursley mumbled something that might have been, “mimble wimble”, then motioned for his family to get in.

“Now don’t you worry, Mr. Dursley,” said Dedaus, pushing in front of Mrs. Dursley and getting in beside him, much to the chagrin of both husband and wife. “Hestia and I are going to take good care of you. This is going to be so much fun!”

Pulling her jacket tighter around her, Tonks was glad someone was having a good time. She just wanted to get this over with. The sky above was darkening and it looked like rain.

When Pansy Parkinson first saw the house she would soon come to know as the Burrow, she had her doubts. Partly that she would be accepted by the Weasley’s and partly that the magic hold the dilapidated building up would last through the night.

Even after passing inspection, Pansy had only been told the plan in very general terms. The Order of the Phoenix, was making a delivery. No, she wasn’t allowed to know what and, no, she wasn’t allowed to know where. Whatever it was, it was making at least one stop on the way.

At some point it might be passing through the Burrow. Pansy’s job was to help guard the place. Most of the family had left to help, she supposed with the move, but a few of them were still there. Pansy imagined that she was being kept an eye on as much as anything.

Ginny Weasley glared at Pansy when Tonks brought her but hadn’t said anything then or since. Then there was an older one she hadn’t met, whom Tonks had called Charlie. Morgana, if he wasn’t half dishy.  She had a mind to try and chat him up, but he quickly went off to patrol and check the wards and Tonks had given her strict instructions to not leave the house unless it was a life or death emergency.

Sulking at her ruined fun, Pansy agreed and found herself left alone with the plump Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley had been perfectly polite, bringing Pansy a cup of hot, sweet tea and a plate of biscuits, but had otherwise been nearly as distant as the Weaslette had been.

Ginny, she corrected herself. She didn’t have to and never would like the girl, but she needed to get out of the habit of using Draco’s insults against them, even in her head. It wasn’t that felt sorry. Far from it. But she was Parkinson and Slytherin enough to know that she wouldn’t get anywhere with them if she didn’t remain cordial.

The Order of the Phoenix, she thought again. Really rather a grand name.

Polishing off another biscuit, Pansy went to explore the house. She had to, didn’t she? If there was a fight,  she’d need to know the layout. It was, as Moody would say, constant vigilance.

Walking around the house, Pansy couldn’t help but beam. Yes, the house was cramped and filled with bric-a-brac that even a Hufflepuff would find tacky, but it had a certain warmth to it that she found comforting.

She pushed her own family from her mind as she examined an old clock hanging on the wall. On it’s face, instead of hands, were nine spoons, one for each of the Weasleys. The numbers had been replaced with writing, most of them locations. Three off them, Mrs. Weasley, Charlie and Ginny were all pointing at “Home,” while all but one of the other six were “Traveling.” The final one for a, Percy Weasley, said “Lost”.

What sort of magic, she wondered, allowed it to know someone was lost, but couldn’t tell them where they were. It was a design flaw, but a minor one, when compared with the usefulness of it. How had they gotten it? She’d never seen one before and there was no way the Weasley’s could afford to commission it. So they must have made it.

“Maybe I can get them to teach me how?” Pansy thought. But that was a goal for another time. Tearing herself away from the clock, Pansy left to explore the rest of the Burrow.

The house was much taller than Pansy had realized looking at it from the outside. She’d made it up to the top of the fifth floor and the end of the line. Most of the floors from the second on up held only one room each. Pansy thought back to the clock and shuddered. She sincerely hoped Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and even Ginny had there own bathrooms. The thought of sharing a bathroom with 6 older brothers… She shuddered again.

Pansy made her way back downstairs and found Mrs. Weasley. She was humming away as she sat at the kitchen table, thumbing through an issue of Witch Weekly. She only looked up when Pansy cleared her throat.  She planned to get on the woman’s good side by offering to help, but she seemed to have it under control. The dishes were cleaning themselves, looking much nicer than Pansy’s work had been, and she even had the mop scrubbing the floor on it’s own accord.

She struggled to come up with something to say.

“I just wanted to let you know I checked the house and everything is ok.”

“That’s sweet of you, dear,” she said, but her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. There was something else in her expression. Sadness? “Has Charlie come back yet?”

Pansy shook her head. “Not that I’ve heard.”

“Why don’t you sit down? There’s nothing to worry about, the Order will all have it sorted.” Pansy obeyed and she continued, “Tonks told us what happened. I think it’s just awful what you had to go through.

So that was it. Well, pity wasn’t exactly her favorite thing to inspire, but one had to work with the runes as the fell.

Feeling only a slight twang  of guilt at her scheming, Pansy, “I just hope they’re ok. Even I don’t get to see them again.”

She was once again obliged to force her emotions from her mind. Changing the subject, she asked, “How long have you been in the Order.”

“Oh, only since You-Know-Who came back.” Pansy was right in thinking that Mrs. Weasley liked to talk, as the woman launched into a long explanation of how they didn’t know Dumbledore well, but how she’d come to see Potter as her own son. It must be lonely for her here, Pansy thought, with  no one knew to talk to.

Pansy listened, asking the occasional question and looking for opportunities to endear herself to the Order. She was about to try and turn the conversation towards the clock when Charlie Weasley came back in.

“Mum,” he said. “The first portkey came back and  Tonks and  Ron weren’t with it. Molly Weasley blanched. She jumped to her feet and ran out, Charlie and Pansy tailing her. They found her in the living room, staring at the clock. The five hands, the ones that all said Traveling, now point to a different location.

Mortal Peril.

“Mum,”  Charlie said, “ stay here with the girls. I’m going to wait outside.”

“Be careful,” she cried as he ran off.

To hell with that, Pansy thought. “Stay here, Mrs. Weasley.”

Pansy caught up with Charlie just a little after he’d stopped running. He looked over his shoulder when he heard her.

“Go back inside,” he ordered. “It could be dangerous.”

“And the house will protect me? I’m here to fight. You can waste time stunning me and dragging me back in or you can just deal with it.”

Pansy smirked to herself as the Weasley boy swore but said nothing more.

It wasn’t long before the next portkey arrived, a black plimsoll shoe that must have been as least as old as she was dropping out of the sky.

Charlie swore again.

“Who was that supposed to be?” Pansy asked.

“Dad and Fred.  This is bad. ”

“ Charlie, what’s happening?”

Pansy looked and saw Ginny coming up behind them, wand out.

“Damn it,” he said, “not you too!”

“Stuff it!” It wasn’t Charlie Weasley’s day. “What’s going on?”

“Somethings gone wrong with plan. The portkeys are coming back empty.

Taking her place in between them, Ginny eyed Pansy with suspicion.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t even know what the plan was.”

Ginny turned away, clearly still wondering if Pansy had somehow leaked it, and Pansy didn’t feel the need to say anything further.

Timed portkeys, two passengers each. Assuming that something really had gone wrong and this just wasn’t a case of poor timing, peopple-members of the Order-were supposed to be coming. And if the plan  _had_ been leaked…

“Get ready,” Pansy said, almost to herself.

A moment later, the third portkey arrived, this time bringing it’s people with it. The enormous half giant, Hagrid, and Harry Potter.

“Harry!” cried Ginny,  running for him.

“Wait!” yelled Charlie. When that failed to stop her, he ran and grabbed her.

“Let me go!” She struggled to break her arm loose.

“Ginny, something’s gone wrong. We have to make sure it’s him. You know him better than I do. Ask him something only he would know.”

“I-”

“Potter, what did I say to Parvati in our first flying lesson.”

He looked confused, first at her presence and then at her question. He forehead creased as he thought back.

“I think you made fun of her for liking Neville. You called him a crybaby or something like that.  What are  _you_ doing here? ”

“ My bit,” she said,  lowering her wand. “It’s him.”

She let the lovebirds have their reunion, while Charlie tended to Hagrid.

“What happened, Hagrid?” Charlie asked.

“Ruddy Death Eaters attacked us. Even You-Know-Who was there.”

Pansy only caught snippets of the conversation as Harry and Ginny helped their professor back to the Burrow. She was torn between staying and keeping watching and her innate desire to know what was going on.

Sighing, she raised her wand again. Someone would fill her in later.

One of the Weasley twin,  his head bloodied, came next with a man she recognized as Lupin.  Then Granger and a serious-looking man she didn’t recognize.  Then Mr. Weasley and the other twin.  Each time, they quizzed each other and each one of them side-eyed the Slytherin girl, Hermione looking especially perturbed.

But Pansy wasn’t paying attention to that. When Charlie had first said, Tonks hadn’t come back yet, she didn’t know the plan, so it hadn’t registered as anything to be concerned about, even with the clock pointing to mortal peril. But now with, with each pair arriving without her in it. What if…

Pansy gritted her teeth and shock her head. She wasn’t going to think like that.

But didn’t have to wait long. A moment later, Tonks appeared, Ron Weasley in tow. Pansy’s first instinct was to run to her like Ginny had to Potter, but she stopped herself.

Wand still pointed at them, she asked, “What did I make the first time you had me cook?”

“Sausage, eggs and beans.” Tonks’ own wand was trained on her. “When did we first meet?”

“Back in Hogwarts, at the school store.

Tonks lowered her wand and Pansy tried to hug her, nut the auror pushed her off.

“He’s hurt. Help me get him inside.”

Between the two of them, they were able to help Ron limp inside.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, well enough to be churlish about it.  Pansy ignored him.

“What happened?”

“Bellatrix happened,” Tonks. “I tell you later.”

Pansy opened her mouth to press the issue, but thought better of it.

The three made it inside to hear the last bits of an argument between Professor Lupin and Potter.

“I won’t blast people out of the way just because they’re there. That’s Voldemort’s job.”

She and Tonks helped Ron into a chair next  the one Lupin had just sat down in.  The rest were huddled around the sofa, where one of the twins, the one who was injured, was lying.

“Is he going to be ok,” Pansy heard one of them ask frantically.

“He’ll live,” someone else said. “His ear, though…”

“Help me stop the bleeding.”

Pansy kept her distance as the Weasley boy was healed and brought too. He seemed to be alright, making a joke that he could get giant false one and be called Mad-Ear Georgie,

The crowd went silent and only then did Pansy get to hear the full story.

The Order had been set upon nearly as soon as they had left. Moody, as much as they all seemed to make fun of them, had been right to be paranoid. He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named had brought a full company with him. But at least part of the plan worked, in that they didn’t seem to know there’d be so many Potters with there.

That had been part of the plan they hadn’t told Pansy. One real Harry, delivered to a safe house by muggles and seven decoys making a show of leaving. It was positively Slytherin.

It had been chaos, between the Order trying to fly of in different directions and the Death Eaters cursing everything that moved. A blonde lady Pansy didn’t know described the horror she’d seen when a fire got out of control, nearly engulfing both sides. The worst of it was, to hear her tell it, was how the fire seemed to have a mind of it’s own.

Pansy shuddered. She knew well what fiendfyre was. It might have been the one time in human history the forces of light and dark worked together, as one of them swore Voldemort himself had put it out, if only not to get engulfed with them.

“And then Moody fell,” Tonks said solemnly.

Pansy looked around. In the confusion, she’d hadn’t noticed he wasn’t there. Of course, she hadn’t known for sure that he’d be there, but really? He’d have to be.

“Did he…? Charlie asked.

Tonks opened her mouth, closed it again, swallowed and nodded.

The Order looked around. Finally, Mr. Weasley took out his wand and cast the Lumos charm.

“Moody.”

The crowd followed suit and Pansy joined him. She hadn’t known him well, at all really, but she knew enough to know what a blow it was to the order. Dumbledore and Moody, both dead within a month of each other.

“Ms. Parkinson,” Lupin said, “I must say I’m surprised to see you here.”

A few eyes turned to her, and Pansy did her best to look confident.

“Yeah, well… Death Eaters attacked me too. I had to make a choice, didn’t I?”

Lupin gave Tonks a look, Pansy couldn’t place. Tonks just nodded.

“Well, somebody had to have told the Death Eaters about the plan,” one of the order said. “They knew we’d be moving early.”

Again, Pansy felt their mistrustful stares bore into you.

“She didn’t even know what the plan was. Moody didn’t tell her and Pansy didn’t even know it was today until just before we left.”

The black man-Kingsley, had he been called?-started to say something, but Harry interrupted him.

“I don’t think anyone here would have sold us out. I trust everybody in this room.” He nodded at Pansy. “Dumbledore wouldn’t have wanted us turning on each other, not now.”

Merlin bless him. And then Pansy felt even worse. After how she’d treated him all these years, he’d still stood up for her.

As Pansy tried to find a corner to stick herself and avoid attention, some of the others looked ready to argue, but apparently the word of the Boy Who Lived counted for something.

“We’d better go get him,” Tonks said. “Moody, I mean. Before they...you know.”

“I’ll go with you,” Charlie standing up, his brother following him.

Lupin moved to stand too, but the blond woman held his arm.

“I’ll go,” Pansy volunteered. Anything to get away. A pained expression crossed Tonks face. She looked back and forth between the girl and the Order.

Finally, she said, “No, you better stay here. I don’t know who we’ll run into. It’s not safe.”

“But-”

Charlie put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll be nice. And if they’re not, I’ll hex ‘em for you when we get back. Just ask my dad about toasters, if all else fails. That’ll make everyone keep there distance.”

He smiled at her and winked.

“Just be careful,” she said to Tonks.

“Always am.”

Watching them leave, Pansy retreated back to her corner. A truce may have been called, temporarily, but that didn’t mean she was going to draw attention to herself. Instead, she hung back and watched the Order, while doing her best to not make it obvious she was watching the Order. No reason to give them anymore reason to be suspicious. She just wished she had her sketchbook.

Amusing herself by practicing wand motions in her head, she didn’t notice that someone had come up beside her.

“Hey,” Potter said.”

“Oh,” Pansy said as she came back to reality. “Hey.”

They stared at each other. Every so often it would look like he wanted to say something, but stopped short.

Finally, if for no other reason than to get it out of the way, Pansy. “Thanks. For back there I mean. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for how I’ve been.”

Harry shrugged. “It was nothing. I reckon we can use all the help we can get right now. I heard what happened with your family. Are you alright?”

It was Pansy turn to shrug.

“Well, if you need anything…”

He shrugged again, before walking away. Pansy understood. They were never exactly going to be friemds. But she at least could appreciate the gesture for what it was.

Now satisfied that she wasn’t going to be burned at the stake or interrogated, she ventured out of her corner. Wandering through the crowd, she still avoided all but the most casual conversation. Get people used to her presence, that was the first step.

It was several hours later when Tonks and company returned from their mission.

“Did you find him?” Mr. Weasley asked.

“Not a trace of him,” Tonks said, fuming. “I can’t think of what happened. We searched everywhere.”

“We were high up,” Bill said. “Who knows where he landed.”

“Yeah, I guess. I just hope the Death Eaters didn’t find him first.”

Pansy blanched, as did many of the faces of many others. She’d only had a taste of their cruelty and she had been largely unimportant to them. She didn’t like to think what they’d do if they got their hands on a dead Order member. Or a live one, for that matter.

“We should go back,” Tonks said. “Go over it again.”

Charlie put his hand on her shoulder.

“There’s nothing more you could have done Tonks. Go home and rest. You need sleep.” He nodded at Pansy. “Her too.”

In truth, Pansy was wide awake, but from a significant look from the man, she did her best to look tired.

Tonks relented.

“Alright. But I’m going back in the morning.”

They two of them apparated back to Tonks flat. Tonks left Pansy standing as she went to flop on the couch.

“Is-is there anything I can do?” Her voice was unsteady. She’d never had to comfort someone before. Not for something like this.

Tonks, her face buried in her hands, shook her head.

Pansy walked over to the couch and sat down beside her. Tonks leaned against her, and Pansy put her arms around her, holding the sobbing the auror long into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kicked me in the teeth and I'm still not entirely happy with it, but here it is. Sometimes it's just got to be done.
> 
> Vernon saying "mimble wimble" comes from the first book. The joke Tonks is stopped from telling is a reference to a fic called "Seventh Horcurx" by Emerald Ashes (which is hysterically funny).
> 
> I went back and forth about whether I should do the battle, but I decided I couldn't do anything knew with. Expected a battle next chapter though.
> 
> And, as always, thanks for reading!


	9. The Taking of Azkaban

Tonks dragged herself out a bed despite herself and trudged to the bathroom. She hadn’t known how long she’d stayed on the couch with Pansy before finally going to bed.

She scowled out her reflection in the mirror, her face gaunt and her eyes bloodshot. She scrunched her face and a moment later, her look was back to normal. Perks of being a metamorphmagus.

She should really shower, clean herself up, but she didn’t have the energy. She trudged to the kitchen and decided tea wouldn’t do the trick.

One of the few appliances Tonks trusted was the coffee maker. She paced around the kitchen, waiting for it to be done. On the ding, she looked over her shoulder and listened hard. No sign of Pansy waking up. Good, she wouldn’t have to share. Smiling as she always did, knowing her mother would hate this, she took a big sip straight from the pot.

There, that was better. A little shot of caffeine always made her feel better.

It was Thursday. Not one of her shift days. Still, someone should tell Robbards if Kingsley hadn’t told him already. Deciding a hurriedly scrawled note on the fridge would do for her new roommate, Tonks apparated to the ministry.

She arrived to find the auror headquarters in udder pandemonium. There were around 50 active aurors and a handful of hit wizards in all of wizarding Britain and while not all of them were there yet, it had to be pretty damn close.

“Tonks,” said Dawlish when he saw her, “thank Merlin you got our owl. We’re swamped.”

“What’s going on?”

“The bloody world’s ending, that’s what happening. You hear about Moody?”

She nodded. “Have they found the body yet?”

“Not yet. Not that we’ve had time to look. Too busy with the fiasco in Nurmengard.”

It took Tonks a moment to remember what he meant. She’d learned about Grindelwald in History, but it was a bit of trivia that she never needed, the prison he was at.

“What happened?” she asked.

“There was a mass breakout. Grindelwald and all of his followers. The ones who are still alive.”

“So now we have _two_ dark lords running around?”

“Looks like,” Dawlish said.

“Dumbledore’s gone, Moody’s gone and now this. Anything else want to happen this month?”

“There’s always next month. Besides, maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll kill each other off.”

Tonks let out a humorless, chuckle.

“You’d better report to Robbards, Tonks. He’s calling in everyone. We’re really at war now.”

Tonks let that one slide. Dawlish had been one of the people to side with Fudge until the Department of Mysteries.

“Yeah, I’ll see you.”

But Robbards wasn’t in his office. She found him in the war room talking with Windsor and Bond. They were all hunched over a map, talking animatedly.

“They chokes points are here and here,” Windsor said. “Our best bet is still to throw up anti-apparition wards as soon as we get there,”

“I don’t like it,” said Bond. “We need an escape route if things go bad.”

“I get that, but we also don’t want any re-reinforcements helping them out either.”

“So what do you suggest?” Robbards asked.

“The floo’s blocked out already, aside from the entry point. What’s the timeline of getting portkeys set up?”

“Time-activated would be easy. What you’re talking about. Signal activated. That’ll take time. Not enough for everyone to have them. Scrimgeour's clear on that point. He wants this done immediately if not sooner.”

“What about enough for each squad?” Bond asked.

“That might be feasible, depending on how we divide the squads. And how many of us go.”

“We’re not all going?”

Robbards shook his head. “Can’t risk it. We’ll need some of you hear to hold down the fort. We’re sending as many as we can.”

“Sending us where?” Tonks cut in. “Who are we storming?"

She’d meant it as a joke to lighten mood, but the look on her three fellow aurors’ face was uniformly grim.

“Glad you made it,” Robbards grunted. “You heard about Nurmengard.”

“Breakout, yeah. And now we have some 100 year old tossers on the loose, because things weren’t bad enough already.”

“Exactly. The ministers decided that Azkaban isn’t secure anymore. We’re moving the inmates.”

The laugh died on Tonks’ lips before she’d even opened her mouth.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Extremely.”

Tonks joined them at the table in the center of the room.

“You can’t mean all of them.”

“All of them,” her boss confirmed.

“Where are we putting them all.”

Azkaban was the only prison in wizarding Britain, that much was true. That didn’t mean there weren’t lock up and drunk tanks in the Ministry proper and at various outposts, but...there couldn’t b enough to fit all of them.

Bond and Windsor shared a look that told Tonks they weren’t satisfied with the answer either.

Robbards glanced to the side, a telltale sign that he had his own doubts.

“A few places. The low level ones will be held here. Some are getting there sentences commuted. International Cooperation is working on extradited the nastier ones overseas on a temporary basis.”

There it was. Tonks would have like to be a doxie on the wall for those negotiations. Wizarding Britain didn’t exactly have the best standing in the world. Her father had once compared it to how the muggles saw the Middle East, whatever that meant.

But that was somebody else’s problem.

“So what’s the plan?” She asked.

“For us, our job is to get in there and to get out as quickly as possible, starting at the bottom and working our way up.”

Bond grunted. Robbards glared at her. “Your objections have been duly noted and ignored. We’re not risking low level prisoners getting hurt or worse, joining the Death Eaters.”

Tonks interrupted the imminent argument by asking, “And where am I at in all this? You said some of us were staying behind.”

Tonks crossed her fingers that she’d go. It was foolish. After fighting the night before, she physically need rest. Emotionally? She needed something to distract herself with.

“You’ll be going. We need your counter-curse repertoire there and it’s not beyond the real of possibility that we’ll need you to morph into somebody else.”

Tonks nodded. “And how soon are we leaving?”

“I’m rather curious to know that myself. We’ll leave as soon as the carnival is rounded up.”

“Do I have enough time to shoot off a quick message?”

“Sure, but make it quick. We need all hands on deck.”

Tonks excused herself to her office and conjured her patronus, a silvery jack rabbit.

“Hey, Pansy. I got called into the the Ministry. Something big’s happening and I don’t know when I’ll be back. Don’t worry about me know. Just stay in the flat and I’ll see you later.”

After watching her message disappear, Tonks returned to the war room and found herself pulled into the coordination plans. That was one thing no one ever told you about being auror. It was only 10% excitement and 90% utter boredom.

While Windsor was sent to get their Transportation department working on some as of yet unknown number of portkeys, she and Bond worked on dividing up the squads. Much to her annoyance, Tonks was thrown on the squad with the Awlishes- Dawlish and his partner Hawke Hawlish. Dawlish was stuffy, but Hawke was an ass. And he wasn’t as good as an auror as he thought he was.

Tonks only comfort was that she was put in charge of the squad. Downside they were going in first.

“Any questions?” Robbards asked. It was several hours later, with everything as organized as it was ever going to be.

They would floo into the main office. It was the only floo in and off the island and the already severe monitors on it were being reinforced as they spoke. Once there, the anti-apparation wards would go up. It was already impossible to apparate off the island. This would prevent anyone from coming in.

They would go in waves, making their way to the top and subduing the prisoners who needed it an making their way down. In theory, it would get easier at the lower levels. The minister had approved what must have been a record number of pardons and commuted sentences. Scrimgeour’s ratings would take a hit, no doubt, when the Prophet got wind of it, but it was better than having the dangerous ones fall into the hands of Voldemort.

The challenging part was figuring out how they were going to move that many prisoners quickly. It was Kingsley who came up with the idea, having heard the story of Harry’s third year from Sirius.

They aurors would form a chain down the stairs of the fortress. The prisoners would be escorted down the to the next person in the chain. If necessary, and for particularly nasty criminals, they would be stunned, whether they resisted or not, and levitated down. It would take forever, but it was the quickest way anyone could come up with that didn’t require a dragon’s weight of portkeys lying around or risk taking down the apparation wards and pouring pepper-up potions down aurors’ throats to stave off apparation exhaustion.

It hadn’t taken much debate, but they’d finally come back to the disregarded idea of flooing the prisoners out when Transportation told them they would be able to make enough portkeys for everyone when, quote, “Merlin came back to life and shot lightning from his arse.” Each squad would have only two portkeys each, in case of emergencies.

As for what happened to the prisoners once they got to the ministry, that wasn’t Tonks problem. She’d heard that they were working on converting some storage room into temporary cells until more permanent measures could be set up.

“I hope this is quick,” Hawlish said as their squad moved up to the front of the line. As one of the teams with the most experience in combat, they were near the front of the line, after the warders.

“Afraid this will ruin your quiet night in?” Tonks teased. It was well known among their class of aurors that Hawlish was rarely ever home, to the point that they joked he didn’t even know where it was.”

“No.” His voice was uncharacteristically grim. “I just have a bad feeling about this, you know?”

“Next,” called Robbards.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, putting her hand on her shoulder as they stepped into the green flames. “As your unquestioned master, I promise to use Dawlish as a meat shield first. Azkaban!”

Tonks had been on Azkaban before. They all had. It was part of auror training. That didn’t mean she liked it. Stepping out into main hall, even with the demontors long gone, they place felt cursed.

The permanent staff directed them towards the stairs. The three of them made their way up it as fast as they could. Tonks was glad that Scimgeour wasn’t there to see them. He’d been talking about mandatory calisthenics for Aurors for years and their performance definitely wouldn’t impress him.

Not that they could entirely be blamed. Azkaban was called a prison, but fortress would have been nearer the mark. 19 floors high, the stairs they climb made a zigzag up the side of one of the prism’s three walls.

“We’ll have to do something about these stairs,” Dawlish said, coming up beside Tonks.

“How do you mean?”

“There’s one of each wall, right?”

Tonks shrugged as best she could while running. It had been years since she’d been there and they hadn’t exactly given her the grand tour.

“I guess.”

“Well, that’ll be bad for security, won’t it? Having three possible routes means three possible ways the Death Eaters could come and three directions we have to watch.”

Tonks mulled it over. It was a sharp bit of reasoning, especially for Dawlish. No, it wasn’t likely that the Death Eaters would chose that night to pay a visit, but they couldn’t rule it out either.

“You’re suggesting that we take out two of the staircases?”

“I think it’s the only way,” Dawlish said.

“The ministry won’t like us damaging their property. Let’s do it.”

They were out of breath by the time the made it to the top and found the warders.

“All ready?” Tonks asked one them, a quiet wizard called Savage.

“Yes, ma’am. Nothing’s apparating here now.

Tonks scanned the sky, filled with the same dark clouds that the old aurors said never left the place.

“Alright, you two,” she said to the Awlishes. “Get ready."

Pointing her wand at her throat she cast the sonorous charm, making her as loud as her mother when the was angry. She step to the edge of the walk away, looking down through hollow triangle center.

“Any aurors coming up the stairs, send up sparks so we know which set your on."

A moment later, several jets of sparks came up from the stairs they’d just been on. Tonks breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been worried they all taken different stairs and that she’d have to coordinate one set moving down.

“Pick a stair case,” she said.

Already in position, the Awlishes cast the spell and their respective staircases erupted into soft pink light, dissolving away.

“There. Now let’s get moving.

Joined by the wards, they set about to work.

Given the option, Tonks might have been tempted to just start stunning the prisoners they found at the top level and be done with it. She even doubted the MLE would care if she did, gross human rights violations aside. If the prisoners had seen a human recently, they didn’t act like. The more lucid of them taunted the aurors, threatening to do all sorts of things to them the thought of which made her stomach wrench. But most of them. They rest of them just screamed. Their minds were so far gone, they didn’t even seem human anymore. She was grateful to have back up.

One-by-one, the prisoners went down. The Awlishes took turns escorting them down, restrained. Even if they were wandless, they weren’t to be trusted. Sirius and the Lestranges had proven that the Dementors weren’t as effective at breaking people as they’d always believed.

“That’s one floor done,” Tonks said. Nerve-racking though it was, it had gone smoothly. Hopefully the rest of it would go as well.

They were going down the stairs, Tonks taking the back when they heard it. The sound of feet on stone. But they had just cleared that floor…

Whirling around, Tonks found herself face to face with the Death Eaters. More than the ones who were at the battle of Hogwarts, more than she even knew existed.

One of them stepped forward, but Tonks didn’t give them time to speak.

“Bombarda!” she shouted, hitting the Death Eater square in the chest, flinging what was left of them back and startling the ones behind.

“Run!” she yelled. “Warn the others.”

The warders took off down the stair. Dawlish and Hawlish stayed behind. Together, with a well-practiced array of spells, they were able to keep t he Death Eaters at bay. At least for the time being.

“What’s next?” Hawlish asked. “Do we run or do we stay and fight?”

“We can’t fight them all!” Dawlish narrowly dodged return fire.

“No,” Tonks agreed. “But we can’t just leave. Not until we make sure the others get out.”

She only partly telling the truth. Given the opportunity, she would one hundred percent retreat to the safety of the Ministry. But she couldn’t deny she wasn’t hoping she could a little revenge for Moody and Dumbledore before that happened.

“Then we need to even the odds,” Hawlish said. Cover me.”

With a wild wave of his wands, a barrage of birds shot towards the Death Eaters. And not the cute song birds that old Professor Flitwick had taught them to conjure. No these were falcons, large, black and deadly. The Death Eaters, scattered, giving the aurors the opportunity to quickly summon a thick, stone wall to hide behind.

“Alive for one more moment,” Tonks said. An old auror saying. “What next?”

“Heard you needed some help.”

The speakers was Bond, followed closely by Windsor.

“Yeah, actually you can take over. We’ll just mosey.”

“Hilarious,” Windsor said. “I sent word down to evacuate what they could. They’ll come up when they can.”

Bond peaked around the corner, pulling her head back in time to miss a jagged jet of yellow light.

“Around 30 of them. Everyone feel like killing 6 of them?”

“One who takes out the most buys drinks.”

“Speaking of,” Dawlish nodded at the cells. Whispering, he said, “What do we do about them? I don’t want them joining the fight.

The five of them looked back and forth between themselves. The Death Eaters, not anymore willing to expose themselves to waiting aurors, were instead battering at the wall. It would last for a while, Tonks thought. But it was only a matter of time.

“Nothing we can do,” Hawlish said. “Nothing we could do to secure them would be fast enough. Not unless once of us wants to a do a run around the floor doing complicated locking spells.”

“ _Muffliato_. What if we freed them?” his partner asked.

“Isn’t that the _exact_ scenario we’re trying to avoid?”

“No, hear me out. We already know we can’t secure them all, right? So our options are either wait and hope they don’t get out, wait for the Death Eaters to let them out and join them or let them out ourselves.

“And let them joins the Death Eaters five minutes sooner?” It was Windsor who spoke that time and he sounded as skeptical as Tonks felt.

“Maybe some of them,” Dawlish admitted. “But they don’t have their wands anyway and I doubt any of them can still do wandless magic, if they ever could. Mostly, I think they’ll just run. Who knows. Maybe it’ll distract them enough that we can get a few shots in.”

The aurors shared another look. Then they all looked at Tonks. She was still in charge.

“Damn it, let’s do it. But stay close. If it gets bad, we’re going to have to bug out.”

As one, they raised their wands, casting the mass unlocking charm.

When the cell doors swung open, it took the prisoners a moment to react. Then one ventured out, then another, then another. Soon it was a torrent of rushing prisoners. And not a moment to soon. As the team of aurors was bumped and jostled, struggling to stay on their feet, their wall came crumpling down.

As if they battle had never paused, the dark hall of the prison became a spectacle of light. Tonks dodged one way, then the other, trying to keep ahead of enemy fire while returning what curses she could. More than once, a fleeing prisoner took a green spell meant for her.

“ _Flippendo_!” she shouted, aiming for a Death Eater near the railings. With enough force, she hoped she’d be able to force them off the edge.

The spell knocked him back. He hit the rail and staggered, his mask falling off. Draco Malfoy.

Tonks hesitated for only a moment before jinxing him again. He’d made his choice. He was the reason that Dumbledore was dead.

Horror filled his eyes and the force of the spell and his weight combined to break the railings.

He seemed to fall in slow motion, failing as he grasped for anything that might save him or even his wand, falling beside him. But he was already too far back.

Mesmerized and distracted from the battle raging around her, Tonks didn’t see who it was that saved boy, but she watched as he stopped midair and float back to safety.

A shouted, “Tonks!” from Bond brought her back from to the battle.

Later on, she would think of the battle as nothing short of miraculous. They were slowly, but surely being pushed back to the exit, but they were still holding their own. They hadn’t lost a single auror yet.

“What was that?” Windsor asked. Tonks had felt it to. A wave of magic had washed over them.

“Wards are down,” said Dawlish.

A moment later, Robbards and Kinglsey and the reserve of aurors left behind at the ministry appeared in front of them. Tonks cheered before she realized what she was doing. They were going to do it.

“Retreat,” Robbards ordered. “We’ll hold them off.”

“But-” Hawlish started.

“That’s an order.”

Tonks waited as one by one, the others apparated away. She was squad leader, she reasoned. She should stay behind to make sure they all got out. And maybe then, she would get caught up. Maybe they wouldn’t noticed.

“Damn it, Tonks,” Robbards said when he glanced over shoulder and saw her still there. “Go or I’ll hex you myself.”

“Sir-”

“Now!”

His tone told her he was serious. And with one last look, she obeyed.

Pansy paced around the apartment. Everything she’d done to try and distract herself had failed miserly, from cooking to drawing to cleaning. Even listening to the wireless hadn’t given her any peace. The quidditch match, or at least coverage of it, had been preempted by news of the dark lord Grindelwald escaping and reports of Moody’s death.

Tonks was ok, she told herself. She would have told Pansy if there was anything to worry about, right?

But try as she might, there were certain thoughts she couldn’t push from her mind. First, Tonks had lied to Pansy in the past and while she’d apologized for it and had promised had not to do it again, it would take Pansy sometime before she’d believe that.

Second, Tonks had told her to stay inside. The same woman who had let Pansy go off on her own to a muggle shop for the first time. What made this time different? Was it just because she wasn’t close by this time, or was there something else?

Pansy glanced at the clock again. 9:45. 3 minutes later than the time she checked last and 2 more than the time before that.

She was just about to give up her promise to not send a patronus to the auror when the door opened and a weary Tonks walked in.

“Oof!” groaned the woman when Pansy ran up and threw her arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Good to see you to, I guess.”

Doing her best not to keep what was left of her dignity and not look sheepish, Pansy said, “Well, I was worried. You didn’t say what was going on.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Tonks said. “It wasn’t the kind of thing you put in a patronus, even if it wasn’t auror business. Go on, sit down. Just let me get something to drink.

Pansy watched from the couch as Pansy walked straight past the kettle on the stove, snorting when she saw what Tonks retrieved from the fridge, a large bottle of firewhiskey. After taking one long swig, Tonks put it away and sat down next to Pansy.

“You’re not going to offer me any?” Pansy teased.

“You can’t have any, you’re too young.”

“So…” Pansy said, impatient to hear what Tonks had today.

Tonks held up a finger. Rubbing her temples, she said, “Sorry. Long day.

“Azkaban’s gone,” she finally said.

“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

Pansy listened as Tonks explained what had happened. From the planned evacuation to their failure when the Death Eaters had arrived.

“But how did they get there?” Pansy asked.

“We’re not sure,” Tonks said, “we have a guess, though.”

Pansy stared at her until she continued. “Voldemort can fly.”

Tonks explained how she’d seen it herself when they were moving Harry. With everything else that had happened, that detail hadn’t come up.

“So we think he must have taught the Death Eaters too. And when they found they couldn’t apparate in, they just...flew.”

It was a lot for Pansy to take in.

“What happened after the battle,” she asked.

“It was a draw, mostly,” Tonk said. “We were able to get most of the prisoners at the bottom out, the more lucid ones. The more dangerous ones we had to leave with the Death Eaters. A lot of them didn’t have an ounce of sanity left though, so I don’t know how much use they’ll be.

“Mind you, we ended up releasing a lot more than we intended, but we’re hoping they won’t join the Death Eaters. We lost the prison though.”

Losing Azkaban didn’t sound like a draw to Pansy, but she decided not to argue that point.

“So...what’s going to happen now?”

“The ministry is going to have to make new arrangements. But that’s not my problem. I was taking a couple of days off anyway and they went ahead an extended it after the battle. So I’m off until Sunday and I’ve got a wedding to prepare.”

Tonks ran her hands through her hair, now short, curly and green. “You wanna go with me?”

Pansy blinked. “What? To the wedding?”

“Yeah, why not? I’ve got a plus one and I doubt you want to spend all your time cooped up in here.” She scowled at the flat. “Come on, it’ll be fun?”

Pansy didn’t know what to say. It was so odd, being invited to a wedding for people she didn’t even know. But, she thought, it would be nice to talk with people again and she’d enjoyed herself at the last wedding she’d attended.

And she _desperately_ wanted to be out of the flat for a while.

“Sure, I’ll go with you.”

“Brilliant. It’s Friday, so it’s not like we don’t have time to get ready.”

Tonks stretched and yawned.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m knackered. I think I’m going to turn in. See you in the morning.”

She went to their room, leaving Pansy to her mounting panic attack.

 _Friday_?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's that for a bit of mood whiplash?
> 
> Writer's have no sense of scale. This is a known trope. It's even worse for me, given that I believe math to be a little above witchcraft. So to combat, I have to remind myself to take scale into account. The estimate of 40 aurors and hit wizards comes from comparing the estimated population of wizarding Britain (somewhere between 14,300 and 20,000, according to Quora) to the officer to total population in 1997 and rounding up (the actual number was 42.9-something). Likewise, when I have to have characters buy things, I do my best to find the actual prices and run them through an inflation calculator. It doesn't really matter, but it makes me feel better.
> 
> A couple of references here. Merlin shooing lightning from his arse is a legend they told about William Wallace in Braveheart and "You can't have any, you're too young" is from the Charlie Sheen version of the Three Musketeers. The title comes from The Taking of Pelham 123, which I will probably get around to watching eventually.
> 
> And, yes, Tonks is (currently) the master of the Elder Wand. Told you there was canon divergence and it's finally happening.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. The Ministry Has Fallen

Pansy looked in the mirror and frowned. She’d lost count on how many dresses she’d tried on and for someone who owned as many as she did, Pansy would be hexed if she could find a suitable one.

Not that Tonks had been any help. About the only useful thing she’d been able to tell her was that the wedding was for Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. When Pansy had asked what color dresses the bridesmaids would be wearing-so she didn’t wear something too similar-she’d been hit with and an “I dunno.” When she’d asked what Tonks was planning on wearing, again the answer had been “I dunno.” If Pansy heard the phrase “I dunno” one for time, she was going to throw a fit.

Pansy pulled off her current dress and tried on another, this one a deep green. This one was a bit more promising, but it still didn’t feel right.

Sighing, she took it off and threw with the rest of the growing pile of outfits on her bed. There was no help for it. The only she was going to make it through this with her sanity in tack was to plan out Tonks’ outfit first and coordinated there.

She didn’t bother putting on anything else when she went out to go look for her. Tonks had been surprisingly easy to get along with, not unlike the Slytherin girls back at Hogwarts. She had her quirks left. Pansy had to pretend not to notice that she squeezed the toothpaste from the middle and she was certain Tonks had only started cleaning regularly because she was there. But all-in-all, it wasn’t a bad arrangement.

She found the auror dancing around with a broom, pretending to strum it like a guitar as she sang off key to a song on the radio. If her singing voice hadn’t been so truly dreadful, it would have been endearing.

Pansy waited until the song came to an end before trying to get Tonks’ attention.

“Tonks,” she said. “We still need to figure out what you’re wearing to the wedding.”

“Later,” Tonks said with a grin, “I’m busy.”

“Yes,” Pansy deadpanned, “I can see that. But this can’t wait.”

“Why not? The wedding’s not for another two days.”

“Because,” Pansy said, patiently, “I still have to figure out what I’m going to wear. And I can’t do that until I know what you’re wearing.”

“We don’t have to match, you know.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Why?”

Pansy put her hands on her hips. “Because it will make me happy.”

To her credit, Tonks just snickered at that.

“Oh, well. If the princess insists, then what choice do I have?”

Pansy let that one slide. She was being a pain and she knew it. But Tonks would thank her in the end.

“Come on,” she said. “If it will make you happy, then let’s get this over to that.”

Seeing the inside of the woman’s closest for the first time, Pansy realized this was going to be a lot easier than she thought. Tonks wasn’t much for dressing up, it seemed. She thought she probably cut off a couple of fingers and still be able to count the number of dresses they had to choose from.

“How about...this one?” Tonks pulled out a hanger.

Pansy stared at her.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

The dress she’d chosen was a slinky black one, the one her sister Scarlett seemed to wear almost exclusively when she went out. Pansy had no doubt that the older would look positively stunning in it, but for a wedding?

“Just a little,” Tonks admitted. She put it back and pull out another.

This one wasn’t bad, a lovely shade of pink. Soft, not like the color her hair normally was.

“It’s a bit more of a summer color.” She filed through the rest of the dresses. “If we wanted to do this properly, we’d go out and get you a dress. Don’t look at me like that, it’ll be fun.”

Tonks grumbled. “The last thing that we’ll get you anywhere with me is sounding like my mum.”

In end, after some back and forth, they settled on the pink dress. But if Tonks thought Pansy was done with her, she was sorely mistaken. The dress was the main thing, but she couldn’t go without a matching pair of shoes. Then there was the hair style, never mind the color.

Tonks put her foot down at pre-selecting any jewelry and Pansy didn’t push the issue to hard.

Humming she picked out an outfit, not pink too, because two people going together in the same color was absurd, but a nice burgundy that would compliment it.

As a thank you to Tonks for putting up with her, as she had put it “dressing her up like a doll,” Pansy cooked a dinner for them.

“It’s still not fair that you can cook this well,” Tonks said as they polished off the last of the meal.

"It's just like potions," Pansy said with a shrug.

"I could never learn off a Snape," Tonks admitted.

"Not a Slytherin, I take it."

Tonks shook her head. "True yellow Hufflepuff."

"That would do it. Leave the plates," she said suddenly. "I've forgotten something."

"Not more dress up, I hope."

"Even more important. Dancing."

The auror proved to be a better dancer than Pansy had guessed, given her clumsiness.

"It's like dueling," Tonks explained when they were done. "I just sort of let muscle memory take over."

Despite having everything planned out to the bittiest detail, Pansy still found herself nervous when it came time to leave for the wedding.

It was facing the Order again, she knew. No matter what Harry had said, most of them still didn’t trust her. Some of the never would.

But this was her opportunity to change all that, she reasoned, thinking back to the things her parents had taught her about the social niceties. Plus everyone would be more relaxed. This was a celebration, not a battle.

“Ready?” Tonks asked, poking her head into the room.”

“No,” she admitted.

“Still worried what everyone will think of you?”

“A little. Tonks, you saw what they were like at the Burrow.”

“Yeah, but that was the first time they’d met you. Now they’ve had some time to get used to you. You’ll see.” She put her arm around Pansy. “Now come on. You’ve been looking forward to this all week,

I know you have. I’m not letting you back out now.”

Pansy quelled the urge to inspected herself one last time, letting Tonks apparate the two of them.

The place was already a mad house by the time they got there. Pansy didn’t know much about the Weasley family, only what Draco had told her, but she’d always known that was a best exaggerated. But from what she saw here, they must have been a well-liked family by how many people had come.  
Pansy’s plan had been to stick close to Tonks, at least at first, but she excused herself almost immediately to go catch up with what Pansy was sure was Gwenog Jones. No matter, she thought. She was a Parkinson. She could handle this. Talk to a few people, laugh at a few jokes and make connections for life

She wandered around, introducing herself to the people she met.The Weasley’s were more prominent than she’d expected, given all Draco had said. She marveled at all the guests she encountered. Elphias Dodge. Madam Maxime. Several government officials. She even saw a couple of goblins from the counsel. The whole place was a smoozing Slytherins wet dream. She hardly knew where to begin.

She was in the middle in the middle of discussing the finer points quidditch with a witch she didn’t even know when Tonks mercifully found her in time for the ceremony. She wasn’t looking forward to the possibility of having to sit next to Muriel Weasley.

The ceremony was a lovely traditional affair, and Pansy admired Fleur’s good looks. As she’d been mingling, she’d heard some whispered murmurings about Weasley, who was every bit as handsome as Charlie in Pansy’s considered opinion, marrying a “French lass”, but no one seemed to care once the minister declared them bonded for life.

There was much cheering and rejoicing, and Pansy soon found herself abandoned again when Tonks was immediately asked to dance. Pansy huffed. At this rate, she wasn’t going see Tonks at all during this. So much for her plans.  
She was scouting her prey, a dance partner of her own when she caught sight of the golden trio. Well, Weasley and Granger and another boy she didn’t recognize, but must have been Potter.

“Excuse me,” she said to the bore of ministry wizard she'd made the mistake of chatting up. “I should go say hi.”

Waving, she said, “Harry!”

It had worked well enough the first time, and being seen talking with the new leaders of the light.

“Would you shut up?” Granger hissed. “Even you must realize he’s in disguise.”

Pansy rolled her eyes.

“Not much of a disguise if he’s keeping the same company. Come on.”

She dragged Harry off, the sidekicks following close behind. She found them a table off on the side of the pavilion.

“What do you want anyway?” the Weasley snapped.

“I wanted to thank Harry again for sticking up to me. Back with the...” she looked around. Too many people nearby. “you know.”

“Well, now you’ve said it, so piss off.”

But Pansy was good at ignoring hints when she wanted.

“So how have you been?” she asked.

Harry shrugged, “Holding up.”

He was distracted, looking over her shoulder. Pansy was following his gaze. So that was it. The Weaslette was dancing Viktor Krum.

“Jealous?” she asked.

“No! ...A bit.”

Pansy stood up.

“Well, don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

If she had to dance with a dishy international quidditch star to help build an alliance with Harry Potter…she guessed that was her cross to bear.

With all of the confidence of a Parkinson, she strode over and tapped the girl’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, but I’m cutting in.” She didn’t give either the chance to object, worming her way around Weasley and taking her place in Krum’s arm.

“Viktor, it’s so good to see you again!”

“I’m sorry. Have ve met?”

Pansy feigned looking hurt. “Don’t you remember? We met during the Triwizard Tournament. We talked all the time at the feasts.”

This was bold-faced lie. She had never met the wizard before in her life. Not for lack of trying. But even Parkinson charm and persistence wasn’t enough to break through his tiresome gaggle of giggling fan girls.

But the novelty wore off quick. He was handsome to be sure, but as a conversationalist, he left much to be desire. So Pansy, still letting him think he was leading of course, coaxed him over to a girl who was more than happy to take over for.

Pansy danced with one partner to the next until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“You’re supposed to be with me, you know,” Tonks teased.

“Alright, but I lead,” Pansy said, taking the woman into her arms.

Evidently taking a break from their set, the band played a slow song.

“Nothing to complicated, eh? I’m a klutz, remember?”

“You’re hopeless is what you are,” Pansy teased. “But you’ll do.”

“Well, now that I have her majesty’s approval… How are you holding up, kiddo?”

Pansy smiled. She was in her element, at a fancy party meeting important people and dancing with her new best friend. She was content. That was the word for it.

Pansy was in the middle of answering just that when the shimmering blue form of a patronus came bounding into the middle of the grounds.

“The ministry has fallen,” came it’s booming voice. “Scrimegeour is dead. They are coming.”

Pansy was still processing what she heard when Tonks pulled her into a run. They were heading to a clearing.

“Come on,” Tonks said, “We’ll need space to apparate.”

“What about them,” Pansy asked, struggling to keep up.

Tonks shook her head. “We have have to take care of ourselves right now. They’ll be fine.”

Pansy wasn’t sure even Tonks believed it.

A moment later they were outside a brown stone house in what looked to be London.

Pansy was left getting her bearings as Tonks looked around wildly.

“Shit.”

Pansy followed her eyes. A couple of boys were staring right at them. They must have seen them just arrive. It had been luck that there weren’t more people around.

“Obliviate!” Tonks erased their memories each in quick succession. “I swear it’s getting harder and harder to keep hidden.”  
Pansy only realized Tonks still had a death grip in her when she was pulled towards the door.

Tonks pounded on the door with such fury, Pansy was afraid that she would break it down entirely.

“Keep your hair on!” yelled a woman’s voice.

The woman who opened the door looked so much like Bellatrix Lestrange, Pansy had to stop herself from pulling her wand.

But Tonks wasn’t scared. Indeed, she pushed right passed her.

“Nymphadora, what’s wrong?” Tonks didn’t answer her mum until she was safely inside and had a second to catch her breath.

“Dora, what happened.” That’s was her dad.

“Scrimgeour’s dead, dad.”

“What? How?”

“I don’t know. Shacklebolt just told us. I have to find out. I’m going to the ministry.

Stay here!” Tonks said to Pansy.

In her mind, she knew Pansy was safe. Her parents had survived the first war. That house was safer that anything this side of Gringotts. Still...she found herself worrying she’d never see the girl again.

“Be careful.” Mercifully, Pansy didn’t argue for a change.

Tonks hesitated, before pulling her into a tight hug. Then, for no reason, just a whim, she softly kissed the girl's forehead.

“I’ll be back.” She turned away before she saw Pansy's reaction.

Tonks arrived at the ministry, expecting all hell to have broken loose, but everything seemed perfectly normal. In fact, it actually seemed to be going a bit smoother than normal.  
Hand stuffed in her pocket, ready to whip out her wand should any Death Eater be lurking around the corner for her, Tonks made her way to the auror department.

She found Robbards addressing the aurors on duty. She looked around to see if Bond or Windsor or even the Awlishes were there. Anyone from her class, but they were nowhere to be found.

“I’m sure there will be more changes in the coming weeks as the new minister gets settled in,” he was saying. “All we can do is take it as it comes.

“Right, that’ll be all for now. Get back to your duties. Auror Tonks,” he said when she finally caught his eye, “glad to see you’re here. A word, if you will.”

Once they were safely inside his office, they pulled their wands on each other.

“What was the first verbal reprimand I ever gave you?”

“You told me that if we ever touched the ceremonial swords in the war room again, we’d have to scrub the entire ministry without magic.” That had been quite a night. “What was our excuse?”

“You claimed that you were practicing non-magical combat.”

They put away their wands, Tonks asking, “So it’s true then?”

“It true,” Robbards confirmed.

They sat across each other, the head auror’s desk between them.

“What do we do?” Tonks asked. “I take arresting him is out of the question?”

“Not unless you want to arrest everyone else who’s under the Imperius. Them and all of You-Know-Who’s followers.”

“How many do you think Vol-”

“Stop!” He said hurriedly. Tonks never knew Robbards to be afraid of saying his name before.

“The name’s forbidden now,” he explained.

“So what?”

“I don’t think it’s just a rule. Thicknesse is playing it off as respecting people’s superstitions, but he hinted that there’d be dire consequences to anyone saying it.”

“But we’re alone,” Tonks said. There’s no way they could have bugged Robbards office without him knowing.

“Haven’t you ever wondered where the superstition came from? No one worries about saying Grindelwald’s name.” Tonks shook her head. “You’re too young to really remember the first war. People

would say his name and they’d turn up dead. We think he figured out a way to tell when people said his name so he could send his followers after him.”

Tonks slumped back. No, she’d never thought about it. She’d always just figured that people we’re still afraid after all this time.

“So what do we do now?” she asked again.  
Robbards sighed. The head auror was old, Tonks knew, older than he seemed. But looking at him know. He looked positively ancient. Ancient and exhausted.

“I’m going to stay here. We’ve got to have people on the inside. Someone who can try and disrupt their plans.”

It wasn’t Tonks first idea, but she trusted her boss. If that’s what he said was best…

“How can I help?”

Robbards shook his head. “Not you. It’s too dangerous. For you and for me. Lestrange will be after you and anyone you associate with.”

He pulled out a file. Tonks’ stomach sunk. No. He couldn’t be saying what she thought.

“I’ve been going over your records,” he said, suddenly formal. “Upon review, I’ve decide to suspended you from the auror corps pending review, effectively immediately. You will be under the ministry

pay, but for security reasons, your pay will be directly deposited into your Gringotts account. In the meantime, you are forbidden to be on ministry grounds-”

“Sir!”

“-For any reason, aside from official summons for any reason.”

“Damn it, Robbards-”

“Tonks,” her now former boss hissed. “Can’t you see that this is the best thing for you? Now you can devote yourself to fighting with your secret society vigilantes you think I don’t know about it.”

Tonks opened her mouth, then closed it again.

“There’s no winning this one, is there?”

“My mind’s made up. I can’t watch my back and yours at the same time. Not when you’ve got that big a target on you.”

“I want my objections noted for the record.”

“Noted.”

“And I want you to keep me in the loop. Seriously. If there’s a fight, I want to be back for it.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now go on. Fuck off.”

Snorting despite herself, Tonks retreated back to the safety of her parents home.

She could feel the tension of the house when she apparated in. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through the channels, looking for news. Her father was doing the same thing with the telly. Pansy, for her part, was pacing and back between the two.

“Hey,” she said with a weak smile and an equally weak wave.

“Tonks!” Pansy was in front of her faster than Tonks would have believed, nearly crushing her in the strength of her embrace.

“Oof. Breathing is an issue, kiddo.”

“Sorry,” Pansy said, still not loosening her grip. Tonks pushed her off and flopped into a chair.

“You’re now looking at Tonks, ex-auror.”

“You resigned?” her mum asked. “But you love being an auror.”

Tonks shook her head. “I’ve been sacked. Well...suspended pending review. Robbards reckons it’s the best way to keep me safe from Bellatrix. Me and him. Thanks, by the way, for not killing her when

she was younger."

“So, is it true?” Mrs. Tonks asked, ignoring the barb.

“It’s true.” She ran her hands through her hair, now a dull brown. “Officially, the minister’s just resigned, but we all know the truth.”

“We should leave.” That was Mr. Tonks.

“No,” was the immediate response from his wife.

“Andy, please be-”

“No, I said. We’re not letting the Death Eaters have our home. We lived through the last war, we’ll make it through this one.”

Tonks was quite certain the argument would continue long after they left. But she wouldn’t be having it in front of them.

“You,” she said, turning to her daughter, “on the other hand should go.”

“Mum-” Tonks started, but her mom held up her finger.

“I’m not going row with you over. I know all about rebellious daughters.” She smiled. “But you need to really think this through. After all, you’re not just looking out for yourself now, are you?”

The Tonkses all turned to at Pansy.

“Good point,” Tonks said and she could see Pansy was already preparing her arguments when she said, “well, I guess you’re getting what you wanted now, Pans.”

“What?”

“Well, I can’t very well go off fighting without you, can I? Not if I don’t want to be hexed in my sleep." She glanced at her parents. Her mum was clearly struggling to hold back an argument. She'd been hoping that the presence of Pansy would somehow stop her from fighting. "We've got a lot to talk about though, and I'd rather do it in the comfort of my own flat."

Standing up, she wished her parents good night.

“So when do we start?” Pansy asked after they retreated to the relatively safety of Tonks’ flat.

“Not right away. Don’t look at me like that! Damn Cadwaldr gives you that jacket of his and suddenly you think you’re a big shot. ” she snapped. “Sorry. We’ll fight back, I promise, but I need to make sure you’re ready first, you know? Train you up a bit.”

The ever suspicious Pansy first instinct that that was another dodge, but Tonks started rattling off what they needed to do.

“We’ll need to ward the place extra tight. Ugh! We’ll have to do it tonight. As much as we can, anyways. It might not bad be a bad to find a secret keeper and get a fidelius charm cast. Damn, but I don’t know how! We'll probably have to move soon anyway”

“Slow down!” She was afraid the auror was going to hyperventilate. “Let’s just take this one step at a time. Wards first, plans later.”

Tonks smiled weakly at her.

“Wards first. Too bad it’s Bill’s wedding night or we could him to help us. He’s a cruse breaker, you know.”

“Pretty poor wedding night.”

Tonks, chuckled humorously.

“Yeah. Poor Them. Come on.”

They set about warding the flat. Pansy hadn’t realized how just how many protection spells there were. Aside from the standard anti-apparation wards, Tonks had guided her through helping with a number of sneak spells, some of which were fairly nasty, that Pansy was certain she’d learned from Moody.

She also made a list of muggle security systems, just in case, though she said she’d need to talk them over with Mr. Weasley before buying any of them.

It was already after midnight when they flopped down on the sofa.

Head to the ceiling, Tonks said, “We should probably go to bed, shouldn’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Not tired, are you?”

“No. Though Merlin knew why. Even Pansy, who liked to stay up late when she could, was usually in bed by now.

“Me neither.” Tonks sat up, shifting to face her. “Let’s talk about your training.”

“Alright,” Pansy said, suddenly very interested. This was, after all, what she’d been waiting for.

“I know what I said back there. And I meant it. I reckon this is as much your fight as mine. But I need you to think about this.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued, “It’s going to be tough. Not like the duels we used to do back at Hogwarts. It’s got to be. I can’t just send you out there and hope for the best. I couldn’t live with myself. So just be ready and know that you can back out at anytime.”

“I’m ready. Well, ready as I can be.” Even if she wasn’t, Pansy wouldn’t dare admit that to Tonks. She remembered all to well what she said about Cadwaldr.

“Great. Then we’ll start first thing in the morning. In the meantime, let’s relax.”

They stayed up late, first trying to listen to the wireless but turning it off when the programs kept getting interrupted by reports about the Minister’s “resignation.” Tonks then tried to teach Pansy a very complicated card game called dragon poker, but was too strung out from the day’s events to properly explain the rules, so they ended up just talking until they finally dragged themselves to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late and short chapter. I was going to combine 3 chapters from my outline, but life came up and I want to keep as much as my buffer as possible.
> 
> Pansy, when in doubt, falls back into scheming. While it wasn't inspired, or even influenced, by the Kennedys, there are parallels. She was raised to put the family first. Problem is, she's yet to develop any real long-term ambitions. More to come there.
> 
> Since it's been touched on a few times in the story, let me clarify that Pansy is bisexual. You see her lifelong attraction to girls back in the prologue, even if she's doesn't consciously understand it yet, but her relationship with Malfoy in the books is just too much part of her.
> 
> Tonks, on the other hand, is gay. It just seemed to cliche to have the metamorphamagus be bisexual as well.
> 
> Anyway, we're starting to see the attraction crack through (I did promise a slow burn). Now we just have to see who crack first.
> 
> Oh, and the Kingsley message comes from the books.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	11. Training

_She looks so peaceful_ , Tonks thought, standing over the sleeping Pansy. It had been a stressful night and it was almost been dawn before they went to sleep. The kind thing to do would be to let her sleep in a while longer.

But if god hadn’t wanted Pansy to wake up drenched, he wouldn’t have put Tonks in front off her with a bucket of ice cold water.

“WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK!!” screamed the girl loud enough that, if Tonks hadn’t put up silencing charms, she would have woken up Glasgow.

Even doubled over with laughter, Tonks was still able to disarm Pansy. Bereft of her wand, Pansy resorted to throwing a pillow at her.

“What did you do that for!” She demanded.

Still snickering, Tonks, “I’ve wanted to do that for ages. Ever since Kingsley did it to me in training. Besides, you’ve got to learn constant vigilance.

“Get up,” she ordered. “I was nice today and let you sleep in. Tomorrow, we’re up at dawn.”

“Can I at least take a shower first?” Pansy asked.

“No, we’ve got a lot to do today and you’re just going to get sweaty. Besides, I don’t want you using up the hot water. Again. I’ll give you five minutes to get into something dry. Meet me in the living room ready to apparate.”

If Pansy wanted to argue, she had the good sense to keep her mouth shut. She had after all, asked for.

“And wear something sensible,” she called over her should as she left, leaving Pansy to change.

As if to spite her, Pansy came out precisely 5 minutes later. Her idea of sensible was apparently to wear flats, because she came dressed in a skirt and blouse.

“You’re sure you want to learn how do duel in that?” Tonks asked.

“It’s all I’ve got.” She put her hands on her hips. “Besides shouldn’t I learn how to fight in what I normally wear?”

“Hmm. Good point. Fine, suit yourself. But first chance we get, we’re going to buy you some pants.”

Pansy scoffed as she grabbed Cadwaldr’s jacket. “Oh, _now_ you want to go shopping.”

Ignoring her, Tonks brought them both back to the Cliff.

“Leave that for now,” she said to Pansy who was in the process off trying to make the oversized coat fit. “I want to see what you can do without it first. I don’t want it to be a crutch. Show me your stance.”

Pansy drew her wand, barely moving her body.

“Not bad. You’ve got your wand in the right place. But,” she adjusted Pansy’s, “you’d be much safer if you’re facing them more sideways. There, you make less of a target that way. See. Now as to your feet…”

Tonks almost felt sorry for Pansy. She’d remembered how, just like her, just like a firstie, going in gung-ho to start and being forced to start at the bottom. She’d remembered wanting to hex Moody by about 57th time he’d made them drop into stance. But it had been worth it. She could do it by instinct now.

Once Pansy had gotten it down enough that it was safe for a break, Tonks mollified her by letting her practice some spells. Pansy was, it turned out, a competent witch when it came to power, but woefully under prepared when it came to wordless magic. She could do most of the basic spells, the ones any first or second year could do. But anything else she’d silently? She was lucky if she couldn’t get the want to flicker.

“But I still don’t see how a half-second’s warning is going to make a difference,” she complained.

“You’re just going have to take my word for it. Tonks was doing her best to be patient. “Not every auror makes it to old age. And the ones that that do didn’t get there by giving up any advantages. You’re right, it probably doesn’t make a difference ninety-nien times out of a hundred, but it’s like why I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen. It’s not for every day I don’t for need it. It’s for the one day I do.”

Or twelve, but who was counting.

“What if I just whisper, then?” Pansy suggested. Tonks had been expecting it. She’d known better than to say it back in the academy, though that was amdittedly mostly down to trainer Moody being downright terrifying when compared to chum Moody.

“Again, most of the time, that’ll work and it’s good that you’re thinking like that, but what happens if they silence you?”

Before the girl had time to come up with another counter argument, Tonks said. “Let’s make of a game of it then.”

Pansy perked up and Tonks fought to keep her expression neutral. Gryffindors and Slytherins. They were exactly the same. Tell them to do some because it was the right way wasn’t enough. You had to make it a challenge. A chance for them to show off.

“What sort of game?”

“I,” Tonks said,” am going to jinx your mouth shut. Then I’ll do the same. Don’t worry, I’ve done this loads of times. I’ll be able to fix it.

“You win if you can disarm me. And no kicking your shoe at me again. I want to see what kind of magic you can do.”

It had been a rather clever move, though Tonks would wait before admitting that to Pansy.

“What do I get if I win?”

And there was the Slytherin. Gryffindors would usually do it for the glory and the story. Slytherins wanted a prize.

“What do you want?”

Pansy thought for a moment. Tonks tried to guess what she was thinking. Her own friends what probably try to get a little gold out of her.

“I want to go out to eat,” Pansy finally said.

Tonks raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“Somewhere fancy,” Pansy added. “Somewhere we have to dress up.”

“Ah, so that’s it. You want to play with your doll again,” she said, making Pansy blush. “Fine. And when- _when-_ I win, you’re buying dinner. I don’t really care where, so long as I can drink. Deal?”

“Deal.”

And with a wave of her wand, Tonks took away the girl’s ability to say anything else.

“Good luck!” A moment later her own mouth was gone.

Without giving Pansy a chance, cast the flippendo spell, knocking her off her feet. Then? Then she ran, disillusioning herself while Panshy was still distracted.

Of course, Tonks was perfectly capable of ending things in a moment. And she would. Later. But first, she was going to have a little fun. Prove her point and make Pansy work for it.

Tonks found herself a nice little hiding spot in a cove of trees. Pansy was close behind her. In her haste, Tonks hadn’t been as silent as she could have been.

_She recovers quickly_ , Tonks thought _, I’ll give her that much._ It had taken her much longer to even get the hang of breathing.

She watched as Pansy searched wildly for her, jerking her head this way and that.

_Damn it, she’s not even trying with magic anymore_ . How could she get Pansy passed her mental block?

Pansy was a straight forward girl. It had been a mistake to try it this way. She should have known better. Dropping the disillusionment, Tonks stood up and walked out.

“Look, you’re going about this the wrong way,” Tonks said. “You can do these spells. You know you can do these spells, because you’ve been doing them for years.

Tonks held her hands up. “You’ve just got to decide whether you’re going to let this mental block stop. Are you a witch or not. Come on, free shot.”

Taking long, slow deep breaths through her nose, Pansy raised her wand.”

  
  


“It counts,” Pansy argued.

“Hardly,” Tonks said. They’d stopped back at the flat to clean up and change before heading out to buy Pansy some proper workout clothes in the Alley. “It just slipped out of my fingers. I caught it before it even hit the ground.

Pansy stopped in the middle of the street they were walking down and put her hands on her hips.

“It counts,” she repeated. Her lips curled into an evil smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to back out now.”

“I’m not,” Tonks promised. It hadn’t been a brilliant spell, Pansy’s expelliarmus. But all things considered, it was a good start. “Just know that it won’t be that easy next time. Let’s go, we’re nearly there.”

She was disguised as Mrs. Parkinson. She’d been thinking about it since the night they’d met Cadwaldr. Tonks hadn’t like the idea and hadn’t known how to broach the subject, but Pansy agreed if was a necessary precaution. The last thing they needed was a Death Eater seeing Pansy with an unknown woman.

Tonks led her to the shop the aurors frequented for their gear.

“This is it.”

Tonks have expected to see some of the others there, but it was just them and the seamstress.

"Good afternoon, ladies! What can I help you with today?"

“Not much today,” Tonks said. “Really, we’re looking for warm ups more than anything else. I’d like to get her measurements down, though. We’ll probably be back later to get some things fitted.”

“Let’s start with that then.”

While the seamstress took Pansy in the back to be measured, Tonks did something looking around for things she could suggest to Pansy. Of course, her main concern was functionality, but she Pansy was going to be looking at style as well.

She was looking a trainers when Pansy came back. As could have been expected, she scrunched her nose at the shoes Tonks was examining.

“If you want to ruin your nice shoes by running around through the mud in them, that’s your choice,” Tonks said. “But when you change your mind, you’re coming back here on your own _and_ you’re making up for any training you miss.”

That made the girl more reasonable. Tonks had gone easy on her for her first day, but not so much that Pansy wasn’t already beginning to show the aches of unworked muscles.

“What do you recommend, then?” she asked.

“You want something with a lot padding. Trust me on that one. If you’re feet hurt, the rest of you will too.” She put down the pair she had been looking at and picked up a different pair. “I like these, but they can pinch a little if you don’t get the right size.

“Really, just try on a pair and see what feels comfortable.”

Reluctantly, Pansy tried them on. Tonks let her go through the motions of vetting them to whatever standards she had. What did it matter, so long as she settled on something? Tonks was getting the sense that it was more a matter of feeling like she had control over something in her life, never mind how insignificant it was.

She did have to put her foot down and insist she buy a sweatshirt and sweatpants. If given her choice, Pansy would have walked out with just some tank tops and shorts, but a reminder that the cold weather was coming and she could only do the magic she could do silently had convinced her to get “ugly things” as well. Tonks was quite certain Pansy would practice until she could preform a heating spell. A nice bit of motivation.

Clothes bought with a promise to come back when Pansy needed some good leathers, they returned to the flat.

“Did you want to go tonight?” Tonks asked, hoping the answer was going to be no.

“Merlin, no!” Pansy said, flopping onto the sofa. “I’m still sore from today.”

“Yeah, I was my first time too. Being out of shape will do that to you. What?”

Pansy was looking up at her, jaw dropped and with a look of pure indignance on her face.

“I’m in shape.”

“Easy. I’m not calling you fat of anything.” Truth be told, Pansy was positively gorgeous, even as she scowled. “But there’s more to being in shape than looking good. I just mean you haven’t built up your strength and endurance yet.”

Pansy didn’t look convinced, but let the matter drop.

“I’m going to order take out and then hop in the shower,” Tonks said. “Unless you want to go first.”

“I can wait a bit. What are we getting?”

“I’m thinking Chinese, if that sounds good to you.. What do you want?”

But Pansy had never had Chinese food before, so Tonks ended up ordering for her. She got a couple of extra dishes. If she remembered her first days of training, and she did. Pansy was about to be ravenous.

She came out of the shower to find Pansy paying for their food.

 _Perfect timing_ , she thought.

Pansy examined the food as the two them worked together to set the table. Tonks’ mum would love to the see the influence the girl was having on her daughter in terms of housekeeping.

“Well, it smells good,” Pansy said.

“It tastes better. Go on, try something. I recommend the sweet and sour chicken, but I’ll anything that’s fried.”

She scooped some onto Pansy’s plate. She’d been right twice. Pansy did love it and as soon as the food hit her stomach, so did her hunger. Even Tonks had to marvel at how much the girl could put away.

When Tonks suggested they go to be early, Pansy didn’t object.

“Hey,” Tonks said, giving her a side hug as they walked together to the bedroom, “I know I’ve been hard on you, but I want to know you did a good job today.”

“Thanks,” Pansy said, smiling up at her.

Training continued in much the same way. It hadn’t taken sometime for Pansy to get used to waking up before dawn, but she’d learned to get up quickly with the threat a bucket of ice water ever-looming.

She made good progress with her warm up. The first time she’d had to run the circuit, she’d nearly collapsed at the end and had forgone the bottle of water in favor of shooting some directly into her mouth with her wand. Now, while she wouldn’t be winning any races any time soon, she was at least able to do it.

She’d even managed to embarrass Tonks at one point, on the third day. In a fit of petulance, she’d demanded to know, “why you aren’t doing it if it is so bloody important.” That had cracked Tonks facade a bit. aurors were required to go through rigorous PT at the academy, but as long they kept they’re weight in check, they were allowed to skip the “strongly recommended” exercise once they’d made auror.

And she and Cadwaldr had been experts at avoiding it.

So she was forced to put her money where her mouth was and then she was forced to swallowed her pride when it turned out, like she was afraid it would, that wasn’t quite as in shape as she’d like to believe.

“That just proves my point,” she said, turning it back around on Pansy. “It’s too easy to get complacent and let yourself go.”

But after that, she’d join Pansy in their warm ups.

Tonks followed the same pattern they’d used on her for training: Work on the fundamentals and pepper in something more interesting.

After that first day, Pansy could do wordless magic consistently, but a new problem emerged. No mater what she did, she couldn't control the power of her magic. Sometimes, her wand would barely flicker, sometimes a simple _flippendo_ had Tonks flying. After one particularly, bad day of spell work, Pansy stormed off and Tonks had followed her to find her crying underneath a tree, tears of frustration streaming down her cheeks.

"Why can't I just do it?"

"It'll come with practice," Tonks said, putting her arm around the girl, hoping it was true. She hated seeing her cry. The truth was, she'd never seen anyone with such a gap between the two extremes when she was at the academy. It was always one or the other.

"Has it ever happened to you before?"

Sniffling, Pansy shook her head. Tonks had taken her home early that day. She needed a break.

Back at the flat, Tonks had dug out her old auror training manual and started Pansy off on healing potions. She hadn't been lying about being good at the subject and soon it was less a lesson and more and exercise in stockpiling.

On the nights that they weren't too tired, they'd visit Tonks' parents. Pansy usually made a beeline to the couch, joining her dad in watching whatever was on the telly. Tonks would join her when she wasn't ambushed by her mother. Pansy was an affectionate girl and it never took long before the two were cuddling, laughing at the antics of Harry Hill. Tonks liked to think Pansy had found a place with her.

As the days turned to weeks, Pansy made great strides in her training. Tonks could still mop the floor with her, but she was lasting longer and longer. At the end of each session, Tonks knew there wouldn't be many more.

“You actually let me sleep in?” Pansy asked, coming out into the living room a month or so after the wedding well after dawn.

“That’s because we’re taking the day off. I need your help picking out a dress.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Well, you won the bet and I haven’t taken you out to dinner yet.”

Pansy smiled, but instead of insisting they get started right away, like Tonks expected, Pansy turned around and started walking back to the bedroom.

“Aren’t you excited?” Tonks asked.

“I am,” Pansy said. “But if I get a day to sleep in, I’m not going to waste by getting up at…”

She glanced at the clock.

“Nine,” she finished. “But be ready when I do wake up.”

Pansy didn’t emerge from the room for another three hours.

“Where are we going?” Pansy asked, by way of a greeting.

“I was thinking Le Caprice,” Tonks said.

“French?”

“I don’t know.” She’d never been, but her parents liked to go there for their anniversary.

Pansy let out a long suffering sigh, as if it really made a difference what nationality made the expensive food they’d be eating.

“Ok,” she said. “Well, let me take a shower while I think about it. You’ll need one too, with enough time to let your hair dry.

Pansy just scoffed when Tonks asked why she couldn’t just magically dry it.

  
  


Pansy came out of the shower refreshed and with a plan for how she was going to do up the tomboyish auror. After sending her to get ready, with Tonks bowing at “her majesty” on her way out, Pansy set about laying out Tonks outfit.

“And don’t put your dirty things back on after you’re done!” she called, loud enough that Tonks couldn’t pretend to not here her over the shower.

Tonks came of out the shower in a towel, as she always did, and not the bathrobe Pansy had expected the first time see saw her. Not for the first time did Pansy think there was something about seeing her like that.

Then she got to her head and grimaced.

“ _Why_ , exactly, are you bald?”

“I didn’t feel like waiting for it to dry.” Tonks said. And since you won’t do it magically-seriously, I need to introduce you to a blow dryer-I figured this was the quickest way. Don’t look at me like that, it’ll come out fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to dress up.”

“I hope so. Let’s get going.”

Pansy took Tonks by the wrist and led her to their room, where she’d managed to set up a makeshift vanity. To her surprise, she’d found she actually preferred Tonks bald as it allowed her more room to work with.

“No,” she said, “lighter. More like a frost color.”

She’d decided they’d go with blue for her. Blue and curly. Not something she’d guess they’d see a lot of at this “Le Caprice” place, but it would be a good look on her and still let her show off her personality.

“Like that?”

“Perfect! Now, how much control do you have over it?”

She’d never seen Tonks do too much with her in person, though she’d it in several different styles. Judging by how she could change her face basically at will, she should be able to do whatever she pleased with it. Unless hair was particularly tricky.

“Pretty much as much as I want,” Tonks said with a shrug. “What did you have in mind?”

She was now sporting little more than a buzz cut, just enough for Pansy to get a sense of the color.

“Curly,” she said. “But grow it out slowly. I’ll let you know when it’s perfect.”

Tonks did as she was told, letting her hair pour out slowly from the top of her head.

“There.” Pansy said. Her plan, originally, had been to have it shoulder length, but it had barely gotten to the shortest page boy cut when Pansy stopped her.

She ran her fingers lightly through the woman’s hair. She hadn’t been able to help herself.

Tonks giggled. “I take it you like it, then?”

Pansy nodded. “It’ll do.”

“Oh, thank Merlin,” Tonks teased. “Now is there anything else I have to suffer through? Or can I get dressed?”

“Get dressed,” Pansy said, recovering. That is, up until the moment Tonks slipped out of her towel and into the black dress she’d chosen for her.

For someone whom Pansy had _personally_ seen trip over a speck of dust two feet from her there was a certain...grace about her. Yes, that was it.

She’d managed to tear her eyes away from Tonks just before she’d turned around. She wouldn’t want her to think she was staring at her or anything.

The dress looked stunning on her and Tonks filled it out of far more than she had expected. Maybe that was deliberate. If _she_ was a metamorphamagus, there was no way she’d ever leave the house looking less than perfect.

“What do you think?” Tonks attempted a little twirl and fell straight on her bottom.

Pansy snorted, helping her up.

“You look great. All thanks to me.” She stuck her tongue out to go. “Just let me get ready.”

It didn’t take her long. She’d perfected the art, over the years, of getting picture perfect efficiently. Still, she took extra special care on her make. It simply wouldn’t do to not have everything perfect for their night out.

Deciding there was nothing more she could have been expected to do, she found Tonks in the living room hurriedly stuffing a large box into an oversized bag.

“What’s that?” Pansy asked. She’d only got a glimpse of it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tonks said. “Come on, we’ve got a taxi coming for us.”

“A what?” Pansy asked, following Tonks out of the flat?

“A car that’ll take us there. It’s like the Knight Bus, only private. It’s in muggle London, so that leaves apparation out. And I can’t say I really trust the Knight Bus to get us there. Or Stan not to ogle us,” she added.

And so they waited outside of Tonks’ building until a yellow car came to get them. Pansy climbed in after Tonks, following her lead when it came to pulling some strap over her. She could ask about that later.

Tonks told the man operating the absurd vehicle where to go. Greying and cheerful, he mad polite conversation with the two witches. Terribly rude, Pansy let Tonks do most of the talking, only answering when she was asked a direct question. So engrossed was she with the sights of muggle London. Lights everywhere, not the warm candle light she was familiar with, be nonetheless brilliant.

The streets were filled with cars just like the taxi. Were they all hired out or did every muggle have one of their own, like they had brooms. None of the books she’d read about them had said.

“Here we are,” he said, pulling the taxi up to restaurant. “You ladies have a good evening. And bring me back some leftovers.”

Tonks laughed as she thanked a paid the man.

The building they found themselves in front of didn’t look like much to Pansy, dull, grey and plain. But there was a line queuing outside the building, so there must be something doing.

“Well, I’m not waiting in this,” Tonks said. “We’ve got a reservation.”

Pulling Pansy along with her, Tonks cut the line under protest from the people ahead of them.

Waiting until the host was done explaining to a couple that they would have to wait for a table to open up, Tonks slid up front.

“Hey!”

Ignoring him, Tonks explained to the host, “Yes, we have a reservation under Tonks.”

The man checked his list and said, “Yes, we have your table waiting.

He called harried looking woman over who led them to a nice, cozy table out of the way.

Lighting the candles already set on the table, she asked, “Good evening. Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Just water to start,” Tonks said, “But I think we’re going to need your wine menu.”

She gave Pansy a questioning glance. Pansy nodded.

The waitresses placed menus in front of them, saying, “I’ll be right back.”

Pansy looked at what Le Caprice had to offer and her stomach fell. This place was much too expensive for Tonks to be able to afford.

Maybe she was a legilimens, because she said, “Now, I don’t want you to worry about the cost. I’ve got this. Besides, it’s a special occasion.”

“Why?”

Tonks just giggled.

“What?”

“Pansy, don’t you know what today is?”

Pansy shook her head. She really didn’t. All the days, very few of which she had time to leave the flat after training and even fewer she had the inclination to, had all begun to run together in her head.

“It’s the 31st,” Tonks said. “August 31st.”

Pansy could feel the look of dawning comprehension spreading across her face. How had she forgotten.

17\. She was 17. Not yet a fully qualified witch, but at the very least she was an adult now.

“But how did you know?” Pansy asked.

“ I looked it up  when you told Cadwaldr you were almost 17. I know this probably wasn’t the coming of age party you wanted. We’re going to do something at my mum’s place later, but I wanted to do something special for you tonight and making good on my bet was a nice excuse.

Pansy didn’t know what to say.

“Tonks...Thank you, she finally settled on. “Really, I can’t tell you how much this means to me. This and...well, everything.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tonks said, “Waving her off. It’s been nice having you around. Especially the cooking.”

Tonks stuck her tongue  out at her and Pansy smiled.

The waitress chose that moment to come back with their water and the wine menu.

They ordered a bottle of Pays d’Oc, on Pansy’s suggestion, given that they were both eating white meat. Pansy ordered the seafood creviche with tiger sauce and pea soup. Tonks, declaring that she was going to send her mum into a fit when she told her ordered a burger (albeit one made out of shrimp).

A thought occurred to Pansy as the waitress left again and she grinned at Tonks.

“So what was that you we’re trying to hid e from me earlier?”

“You know bloody well what it was,” Tonks said, putting her hands on her hips, “and you can’t have it yet. After dessert.”

“But Toooonks!” Pansy played at pouting, “I want it now!”

“Tough luck, kid.”

The conversation lulled and Pansy could only smile. This night was perfect.  Tonks, stunning, was perfect.

“Sickle for your thoughts,” Tonks asked, snapping Pansy out of her reverie.

“Just thinking about how happy I am.”

“Good. I’m glad. I’ve been worried about you.”

Pansy chose not to ask why, not want to bring down the mood.

Instead, the two of them talked idly until their meal came. Pansy, who’d after some time, gotten use to they kind of food Tonks ate, thought it was the best thing she’d ever taste, at least in a very long time. An explosion of flavor in her mouth.

Tonks laughed at her, watching her put it away, saying she’d done the same thing her first big night out after starting training.

For dessert, each of them got a slice of baked vanilla cheesecake and Pansy was finally allowed to open her present.

Carefully taking off the wrapping, Pansy opened the box to find Adwr’s jacket.

“I had it resized for you,” Tonks explained. “Don’t worry, there’s more.”

Underneath it, there was a set of clothes, vest and pants. Pansy ran her fingers over the smooth, emerald green material.

“Leather?” she asked.

“Scale, actually. Ashwinder. Not as good as dragon, but it’ll do.”

“Thank you,” Pansy said.

“Just make sure you wear it. I like a girl in scale.” Tonks’ cheeks tinged pink and Pansy guessed that came out wrong.

“Anyway, tonight’s a special occasion for more than one reason,” Tonks continued.

“Why?”

“I’ve decided your done. With training that is?”

“Really?” Pansy was honestly afraid she’d misunderstood.

“Yeah. You’ve got a lot to learn, but there’s not much more I can teach you and I don’t want to wait anymore either.

“So where do we start?”

“Well,” Tonks said, leaning back, “I’ve actually got some thoughts on that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me, after various mishaps, at least four times to edit. I probably still missed things, so I'll be going back again later to check again.
> 
> Le Caprice, for those interested, is a real place in London and you can buy Pansy and Tonks' meals there for far too much. I can't say if it's worth, because I've never been. Also, I can't say for sure whether those items were on the menu in 1997.
> 
> For references, Tonks' "he wouldn't have put her in front of her with a bucket off ice water" comes from a *very* dark meme. "I'll eat anything fried" is from "More Information Than You Require" and "I actually have some thoughts on that" is from Archer.
> 
> This was another chapter that challenged me, but I'm glad it came out and I'm looking forward to more action in the coming weeks. Thank you all for reading! I keep going for you.


	12. Let's Hunt Some Snatchers

Pansy yawned. She was a morning person, when "morning" didn't mean "dawn" , and adjusting to this new nocturnal lifestyle...it was taking some work.

She and Tonks were patrolling through the streets of Brixton. It was one of many districts the two of them were covering, picked at random each night just before they left. Moody’s paranoia-precaution as she was now obliged to call it-was living on in them.

Disguised as police officers, they moved through the streets methodically. There had been a long discussion over their choice of disguise. For what they were doing, they needed to not be suspicious and looking like authority was ideal for that. On the other hand, there was always the risk that muggles would stop them for help. In the end, it was a risk they would have to take.

Far from the regular duels Pansy had come to imagine would make up the most of their time, what with the training Tonks had subjected her to, their routine was important, but largely uneventful.

“What’s this one?” Pansy asked.

Tonks checked her list. “Muggle. Let’s get to work.”

 _Protego horribilis_ was a complicated spell, one that only the most talented of witches and wizards could preform single-handedly. If old Prof. Flitwick had been there, he could have done it. They needed to work together.

But the spell was worth the trouble. It made it very difficult for any spells to pierce through it’s protective barrier.

“But they can get through eventually, can’t they?” Pansy had asked when Tonks had first started teaching her the spell.

“Well sure,” had been the answer. “Nothing’s fool proof and no spell lasts forever. But you’ve got to think like a Death Eater.”

When Pansy had asked her, Tonks explained. “You’re a member of an illegal and hated terrorist group. Even if the shadow government supports you, you’re out-numbered by the general population. And you’re a coward. Are you really going to spend a whole lot of time trying to break through a shield you didn’t expect to be there just to get at some random muggle?

“No. You’re going to see you can’t get through and try somewhere else.”

“And if they can’t get through anywhere?” Pansy asked.

“Then they’ll, hopefully, get frustrated and give up.”

“But wouldn’t they just move on to somewhere else?”

“Maybe.” Tonks gave her a weak smile. She’d guessed what Pansy was thinking. Warding one house wasn’t stopping them, not really. It was telling the to attack somebody else. “I know. I don’t like thinking about it either. But we can’t ward every house in the UK, even if that’s all we did. Just try and focus on doing our part, alright?”

She’d given Pansy a hug around her shoulder, squeezing her before continuing the lesson.

“How many is that?” Pansy whispered. It was muscle memory now, casting the spell. She’d barely even noticed she was doing it anymore.

“Half a dozen or so." Tonks glanced at her watch. “Only a few more tonight. Mum wants us back in time for your big dinner.”

Even as much as Pansy wanted to protect as many houses as she could, it was a magically draining spell and she lost track of how many times they done it in the past week.

“Th-” she was cut off by the sounds of voices down the block. The pair of them ducked behind a bush in front of the house they’d been warding.

Peering out, they saw a group of figures dressed in robes. Their kind.

“Are they Death Eaters?” Pansy asked, her voice just barely audible.

Tonks shook her head. “Doesn’t look like. Could be Snatchers, but I don’t think anyone’s said his name."

Snatchers. The very idea still made Pansy’s skin crawl. Tonks had told her what her boss had said, his idea that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had figured out a way of tracking who spoke his name and sending his lackeys to kill them.

The theory had, somehow been confirmed, they’d found listening to Potterwatch one night. The Trace, they’d called it.

Tonks quirked her head and Pansy could tell she was, like her, straining to hear.

“No, not snatchers. Blood purist though. Come on, let’s go blow off some steam.”

That was another thing Pansy had not been prepared for. She’d known blood purism was still rampant in the upper echelons of society. It was a poorly kept secret and one families like hers hadn’t felt the need to conceal among themselves. But she’d been taught from a young age not to voice those opinions in public. It had been a major failing of Draco’s all his life that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut about it.

But with Scrimgeour dead and Voldemort in power, it seemed like some of her parent’s old dinner guests felt embolden to make public statements.

Pansy grinned. Warding homes was important, but hexing people? That was just fun.

“Same plan?” she asked.

“Same plan.”

In most battles, Tonks told her, taking control was vital. It wasn’t always necessary to get in the first shot, but it helped.

Pansy hadn’t been in enough duels-real ones-to have developed her own style yet, but Tonks favored distracting her opponents.

“ _Incendio_!” the auror yelled, a jet of flame shooting from the tip of her wand.

Most of the wizards fled. _Cowards_. That had been the way of things in the few duels they’d had. Fight back, even just a little and suddenly they weren’t so big and bad.

“You again!” one of the ones that stayed said. Pansy recognized her, though she couldn’t recall where. “Not this time!”

Pansy threw up a shield, just moments before getting hit with a sickly blue-colored spell.

“ _Expelliarmus_!” It wasn’t a flashy spell and she wouldn’t have dared used it against anyone who knew what they were doing. But for chavs like these, it got the job done. _“Incarcerous_!”

One down. Two on one, they made short work of the last one.

“What were they doing?” Tonks asked, preforming memory charms on the wizards.

Pansy looked at the wall and grimaced.

“Lovely.” They were writing on the wall of the house they were in front of. _Death to mudbloods._

“He’s not going to remember this, is he?” She asked.

“Only that he shouldn’t be out here.”

“Good.” Pansy kicked him in the side.

“Oi!”

“What?” Pansy asked. “Maybe the pain will remind him.”

Tonks rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to kick every person who annoys you.”

“I don’t kick every person who annoys me. Just the ones who I’m fighting a war against. You’re acting like I used an unforgivable or something. Remember, these people would gladly see you dead.”

Tonks look down at the wizard as she stood.

“Good point.” She kicked him in the balls. “Let’s call it a night. I’m knackered.”

“We should stop and get your parents something. Wine maybe.”

“You don’t need to butter her up, she already likes you,” Tonks teased. “But yeah, we’ll stop.”

  
  


Tonks brought Pansy to a liquor store to let her pick out something. Tonks waited outside for her, scanning the street. You couldn’t be too careful these days.

It had seemed a long time, the past two weeks. They’d abandoned Tonks flat, deciding that it was safe enough while they were keeping a low profile. But now that they were starting to draw attention themselves, it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for them.

So far they’d lived in only one hotel room, thankfully paid for by Pansy’s trust fund, but Tonks was planning on making them move next week.

Tonks kicked a can down the street. She hated this. Hated having to move, hated not being able to do more than scare off the odd bigot. She wanted to do more.

Pansy came out carrying a brown paper bag. The girl had the patience of a saint.

“I haven’t had this brand yet, but the clerk said-” Tonks cut her off by pulling her into a hug.

“What’s that for,” Pansy asked. “Not that I mind.”

“Nothing,” Tonks said. “I’m just glad we’re in this together.”

She pull back. It was hard to tell in the fading light, but the girl looked pleased.

“We’d better get going. Mum’s a real monster if I’m late for dinner.”

Pansy snorted. “She still frightens me a bit, to be honest.”

“Yeah? Try living with her through menopause.”

Tonks cackled at Pansy’s horrified expression.

  
  


They arrived at her parent’s place to find the most scrumptious smells wafting through the open windows.

“Mum’s really gone all out. I imagine this is supposed to be your birthday celebration, so do your best to act surprised.”

“I will.”

But Pansy abandoned her immediately when she saw her dad in front of the TV.

“I thought it was bad enough with one of them,” her mum grumbled, hugging Tonks. Her dad had found an easy, if unlikely, convert to the cult of the telly in the pureblood witch. “How was tonight?”

“Boring,” Tonks said. “Just warding some houses. We decided to call it early.”

She didn’t tell her about the duel. She never did. She’d long ago learned it wasn’t worth the fuss.

“Oi!” she called out. “We’re not waiting for you two and don’t think I won’t eat the cake by myself if you’re not here.”

“You never let me do anything,” Pansy whined. Coming back into the room, followed closely by her dad, she continued her feigned indignance. “’Pansy don't kick people who annoy you!’ ‘Pansy, you can’t watch the _Vicar of Dibley_ or I’ll eat your cake.”

“Don’t encourage her,” Tonks said to her snickering father. “Et tu, mom?”

“I’m sorry, dear. But this is vengeance for your teen years.”

“Ooh!” Pansy said, sitting down with the rest of them at the table. “I hope there’s a story there.”

“Oh, so many,” her mum said.

“That you’re not going to tell her,” Tonks said.

“Well, now you have to tell me.”

Tonks pretended to pout. But that didn’t stop her from getting dragged into the stories of her many, many howlers.

“And here’s your present,” her mum said, handing Pansy a small gift.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have!”

“Oh, nonsense. A witch doesn’t come of age every day.”

Pansy tore open the package eagerly and cooed at the sight of the locket on the inside. It was the traditional gift for a witch. Normally it was the family crest or some symbol. Her mum had written her to ask Tonks if she thought getting one of the Parkinson coat arms would be appropriate, but they’d decided it might just make the girl feel worse. So instead, they found one in the shape of a phoenix that they colored in Slytherin green and silver.

Pansy smiled, though her eyes were edged with tears.

“It’s beautiful, Mrs. Tonks. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. And I’ve told you already to call me mum. Dear, don’t just sit there, help her put it on.”

“She can put it on herself, mother,” said an exasperated Tonks, but she helped Pansy with it anyway. She was quite certain that Pansy would be strutting around with it all week, at the very least.

“I’m sorry everything is going right now,” Tonks whispered into the girl’s hear. “You shouldn't have to go through this.”

Pansy jerked up.

“What is it?” _Damn it Tonks, way to ruin the mood._

 _“_ Nothing.” And Tonks didn’t press the matter.

After dinner, they taught Pansy the finer points of euchre, a muggle card game her father had learned on a business trip to America. Tonks took great comfort in finding another thing the girl wasn’t instantly good at.

It was late when they finally headed back to the hotel.

“Mind if I turn on the wireless,” Pansy asked. “I think there’s another Potterwatch tonight.”

Tonks gave her a thumbs up from her bed that she’d flopped down on immediately upon arrival.

Potterwath was the pirate radio the Weasley twins had started. They’d found out about it through a patronus Fred had sent them just before they’d moved out of her flat. In fact it had been the reason for the move, or at least the final straw. If anyone could just send them a patronus...

It was good to listen to it though. It gave them hope that somehow, things would be ok. Every week, the twins reported on the resistance.

“Our big story tonight is that the Golden Trio were sighted today," said Fred, though he went by rapier for the purposes of the show. George was Ricasso.

“That’s right. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were spotted at the ministry today. Their mission was unknown, but it’s being reported by witnesses that they escaped unharmed. We wish them all the luck in the world.”

“That calls for a celebration,” said Pansy from her bed. She went over to the fridge and poured them out a glass of wine each.

“Not too much for me, eh?”

Pansy brought the wine over and handed a glass to Tonks before climbing into the bed with her. Cuddling, they listened on as the twins talked about two “mysterious” wizards who’d been spotted dueling earlier that week.

“That must be us,” Pansy said, clinking glasses with Tonks. “Pity we won’t get credit for it.”

The broadcast ended. A short episode was a good one. The last one they’d listened to read off the names of who those who had been killed by Death Eaters. Deaths that hadn’t been reported by the _Prophet._

“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Pansy asked, still snuggled up to Tonks. Merlin, Tonks had forgotten how nice it was to have someone to cuddle with.

“I want to meet some of the Order.”

“I didn’t realize they were still fighting.”

“I don't think we are. Not organized anyway. But I still want to meet with them. If we’re lucky, maybe we can get the band back together, so to speak. If not,” she shrugged, accidentally knocking Pansy in the head, “sorry. If not, then maybe they’ll be able to tell us something.”

Pansy sniffed. “I hope they fight.”

“Me too.” It had been a major blow to them, losing both Dumbledore and Moody so soon, and losing the ministry. But what had been the point of fighting in the first place if they were just going to give up? Flashes of Adwr went through her mind. Maybe she could talk to the twins and see if they couldn’t do more to encourage open rebellion.

Putting her now empty glass on the bedside table, she put her arms around Pansy.

Pansy snickered. “What? I’m your teddy bear now.”

“Tebby.” Tonks corrected. “Dad didn’t want a fat, hairy animal named after him. And yes. Be honored. Not everyone gets to sleep with a metamorphamagus.”

She waggled her eyebrows at Pansy, giggling herself at how flustered the girl got at a little bit of innocent flirting. For someone who liked to act as prim and worldly as Pansy did, she was easy to mess with.

Pansy pulled out of her grasp and went over to her own bed.

“Sorry, but I’m tired. I’ll try and send a cuddly bed bug your way.”

“Fine,” Tonks said, sticking out her tongue. “But if I get bit, you get bit.”

Once of the nice things about the nocturnal lifestyle, Pansy thought as she looked at the clock and saw that it was already after ten, is that she could have a lie in whenever she wanted.

Another nice thing was that she always woke up feeling well-rested, though that was probably in part due to her now active lifestyle.

Stretching, she looked over and saw that Tonks was still sleeping. Moving quietly, though she knew the woman could sleep through anything, she went to get herself ready.

Tonks was just getting up when she was done.

“Who’s first today?” Pansy asked.

“I’m thinking the twins,” Tonks said, peeling out of the clothes she’d slept in. “I had some thoughts for Potterwatch. After that, I thought we’d look in on Diggle and Jones. We’ll see after that.”

“Have I met them?” Pansy asked. She knew she’d heard the names before, but she had met so many Order members or at least been in the same room as them while they suspected her of treachery.

“Don’t think so. They weren’t there the night of the move.” At the bathroom door, Tonks’ stomach growled loudly. “Shut it.”

Pansy snickered. “I take it breakfast is on me, then. I can do a run. Anything in particular you fancy?”

“The big-”

“-gest cup of coffee they sell. Yes, I know.”

“Aw, you do care!” Tonks teased. “Thanks, love.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You owe me.”

Tired of the same shop day after day, Pansy went on a walk down the street, looking for something new. Besides, it would give her time to think.

Ever sense they’d first learned about the curse Voldemort had put on his name-the so-called “Taboo”-an idea had been rattling around inside her brain. She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject though. Tonks could be a little hard to predict these days. Sometimes she was as gung-ho as Pansy to fight. Other times, she seemed like she’d rather hide the whole war out.

Pansy shook her head, stopping at a cafe that advertised breakfast sandwiches. She was sure the auror knew what she was doing. That didn’t mean Pansy had to like it.

Pansy ordered two bacon and egg sandwiches she was certain had all the calories she’d need for the rest of the week. An evil smile spread across her face as she debated the consequences of ordering two large decafs. But Tonks could be a real harpy when she didn’t have her daily dose of caffeine. Pansy didn’t see the appeal of coffee herself, but she did appreciate the pick me up.

She arrived back at the room to find Tonks packing up. She groaned.

“Already? There wasn’t another patronus, was there.” Pansy would be forced to hex someone if there was.

“No. I just thought it would be a good idea to get moving on. Unless you have a better idea.”

“I’m sure I can think of something.”

“I’m sure you can. Until then, we’ve got to track down the Twins.”

“You don’t know where they are?” Pansy asked, putting on her jacket.

“No. But I can get us to Arthur and Molly and they should be able to tell us. Speaking of…” Tonks dugg into her pocket and pulled out a note. “Read this.”

Pansy took the note.

_The Weasley’s can be found at the Burrow._

She blinked. She’d known that. Merlin, she’d even been there. But she’d forgotten, somehow.

“The Fidelius?”

“That’s right. They gave me that note at the wedding, just in case. You can pack later, I want to get going.”

The Burrow looked peaceful when they arrived in the garden. It was need of a good degnoming, one nearly tripping Tonks. Pansy just barely grabbed her in time to save her from falling face first into Mrs. Weasley’s flower bed.

“Who is it?” came her voice from inside the house. She sounded pleasant enough, but Pansy could here the panic behind the question.

“It’s just us!” Tonks called. “Tonks and Pansy. You know, the woman who convinced your son to skive off Potions to try and ride the giant squid.”

Pansy raised an eyebrow her.

“What?” Tonks asked.

“Nothing.”

“Tonks! Pansy! Come on in. I’ll just unlock the door for you.”

“Shouldn’t we check her too,” Pansy whispered.

“We will.”

Mrs. Weasley pulled Tonks into a hug the second she walked into the door.

“I’ve been so worried about you,” she said, before hugging Pansy too.

“We’re fine, Molly. Say, what was our excuse for going after the squid?”

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. “You said you heard a rumor that the squid was Godric Gryffindor and you wanted to find out if it was true.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not that you ever said _how_ you were going to find out.”

Tonks snickered. “I don’t think we thought that far ahead. And I’m pretty sure we started that rumor.”

“I swear, I thought once you and Charlie stopped getting owls, I was done hearing from McGonagall every week. Then Fred and George turned 11.”

She shook her head again.

“That’s actually why we’re here. We want to have a word with them, but we’re not sure where they’re at.”

Mrs. Weasley’s smile cracked. “Oh, they’re living above that daft shop of theirs. I can’t convince them they’d be safe here. You know how they are. Please, won’t you stay for tea?”

Pansy side-eyed Tonks. The auror looked as anxious to leave as she did, but Pansy knew neither of them have the heart to leave the poor woman alone.

“We can stay for a bit, yeah,” Tonks said.

They followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen, sitting down at the table as the woman put on the kettle and brought them a plate of cookies.

“So is Charlie still around?” Tonks asked. The questioned irritated Pansy for some reason, though she had to admit she wouldn’t mind seeing the dragon tamer again. _Strictly_ seeing him.

“Oh, he’s had to go back to Romania. Never thought I’d see the day when I’d be happier when he was spending all his time around dragons than back home.”

Pansy listened politely as Tonks and Mrs. Weasley reminisced, but there was only so much she could stand, stories she knew nothing about.

“Is Mr. Weasley here?” Pansy asked suddenly, a thought occurring to her. “I had a question I wanted to ask him.”

“Oh, Arthur will be in the garage I’m sure, tinkering away with his muggle contraptions.”

Pansy gathered up a couple of cookies.

“I’ll take him these.”

She found Mr. Weasley, like his wife had said, in the garage at his work bench. Parts of what looked like a noisy thing Tonks had called a vacuum were strewn around him.

“Mr. Weasley? I brought you some cookies.”

The redheaded wizard looked up. “Oh. Pansy. I didn’t know you were here. How are you?”

“We’ve been in with Mrs. Weasley,” she said, walking over and putting the cookies in front of him. “We’re doing fine. How are you?”

“Thank you,” he said, taking one.

“I had a question for you actually. If you’re not too busy that is?” She looked uncertainly at the disassembled machine, not sure what the wizard hoped to do to improve it. Silence it, hopefully. That was one of the nice things about living out of a hotel. Never having to clean anything.

Mr. Weasley grumbled at his project. “I’ve got time. This blasted thing isn’t cooperating. I can’t imagine what the muggles did to make this work. What can I help you with?”

Pansy found a clear bit of bench and hopped down on it.

“I was wondering about your clock. The one with your family on it. Did you make that yourself?”

Mr. Weasley puffed up a little. “That was one of my better inventions. What about it?”

“Do you think you could show me how to make one. It just seems like it would useful to have around. Especially these days.”

Mr. Weasley beamed. Pansy guessed that not many people took interest in his tinkering. But Pansy was beginning to see some of the short-sightedness of the pureblooded elite.

“Just wait right here. Let me go get my notes.”

Mr. Weasley pulled out a cluttered box of papers and dug through them.

“I know it’s here somewhere… Ah! Here we go.”

He pulled out a small stack of papers and handed them to Pansy.

“It’s based off a tracking charm,” he explained as Pansy looked over the notes. “But the pictures work off the same magic as pictures and paintings.”

Pansy nodded, surprised that she could follow the logic of the somewhat disorganized notes. She’d never been much good at magical theory.

“Would I have to take new pictures?” She asked. She had a few ideas of who she might put on the clock, but none she could visit at the moment.

“Oh, no,” Mr. Weasley said, shaking his head. “Any pictures you have on hand should be fine. Mind you, the pictures I used weren’t that old, but it shouldn’t make a difference.”

Mr. Weasley copied the notes for her for Pansy to take home with her, then patiently helped Pansy practice the necessary tracking charm until Tonks came to find them.

“Ready to go?” she asked.

“Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Weasley.”

“Oh, no trouble at all. Let me know how it turns out.”

“I will. Tonks, do you mind if we do some shopping while we’re in the alley?”

“Just as long as you’re not planning on buying a car.”

Pansy followed her eyes to a sheepish looking Mr. Weasley. She’d forgotten about the scandal her second year.

“What ever happened to that old car, anyway?” Tonks asked. “I had a lot of good memories in it.”

“Hagrid says he still sees it sometimes in the forest.”

“Pity. Well, we’d better get going. Take care, Arthur!"

“Do you mind splitting up, actually?” Tonks asked when they arrived outside Weasley Wizard’s Wheezes, a gaudy shop still advertising U-No-Poo.

Pansy shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind. You need some privacy?”

“Not really,” Tonks said. “Just in a hurry.”

She also had a feeling that the Twins might be more willing to open up if it was just her.

“Just be careful,” Pansy said.

“I’ll be fine. You’re the one going out in the Alley.”

Making plans to meet back there in half an hour, Tonks entered the shop.

Back in her Hogwarts days, she’d spend a lot of time in Zonko's and at the time, she couldn’t imagine a more bizarre place. But the Twins out did them in spades. She meandered her way through a haphazard labyrinth of potions and powders, toys and trinkets, candies and novelty clothes.

“Oi!” She finally called out, tired of looking for the boys in the otherwise empty store. “Thing 1 and Thing 2. It’s Tonks. I want a word.”

She nearly shrieked and fell over when they appeared behind her.

“Invisibility cloak, guys?” she said over their laughter. “Really? Little weak for you, don’t you think?”

“Nothing so guache as that, Tonksie,” said Fred. “’Fraid I can’t tell you what it is yet. Top secret.”

“Uh huh…” Then, smiling, she hugged them. “Good to see you brats. I’ve been worried about you.”

“Oh, the war doesn’t come here,” said George. “All we deal with is smiles.”

He said this in an exaggerated voice, mimicking the ice cream shop owner down the street.

“Anyway, what can we do for you?”

Tonks looked around, making sure the store was still empty.

“Can we talked upstairs? I had some questions about the match I heard on the wireless last night.”

Tonks had been they’re babysitter once upon a time, though the title “partner in crime” was nearer the mark. The twins would know what she was getting at.

 _If only Mad-Eye was around to see me now_ , she thought.

“Only if you promise to keep quiet about anything you see up there.”

Tonks snorted. “Like this’ll be the first time I’ve had to pretend you haven’t had a bird stashed away.”

She followed the twins up stairs to their equally cluttered flat. Every nook and cranny and free bit of counter space seem devoted to one experiment or another.

Tonks sat down at their table, examining a bra that was left hanging on the back of the chair.

 _Decent cup size_ , she thought. “Anyone I know?”

“We don’t asked you about the witches you bring home, and we’re not going to tell either.”

But the twins were grinning as George said it. Tonks would have to ask which of them the poor girl was with later.

“Beer?” Fred asked.

“This early?”

“There’s a war on,” he reminded her.

“Lager, if you’ve got it.”

He came back with one for each of them.

“So, you’ve kept up with Potterwatch?”

“Yeah. Good stuff,” she said, raising her bottle. “Bit curious where you get it all from.”

“We keep in touch with the rest of the Order. Well, the ones who haven’t gone too deep underground.”

“Yeah?” Tonks had figured as much. It had been what she’d hoped to hear. Leaning forward, she said, “So here’s what I wanted to talk with you about. We’ve been doing our bit-”

“We?” George asked.

“Pansy and me.”

“Is she really as bad as Hermione says?”

“Nah,” she said. “She’s alright. A bit spoiled, but nothing a good spanking wouldn’t fix."

“Anyway,” she continued before they could grab that quaffle and take off with it. “I was hoping you'd pass anything on to us that you hear. If it’s something we could help with, that is. Bit boring, doing nothing but warding.”

“We don’t mind,” George said. “But from what we hear, you haven’t exactly made yourself easy to find.”

“And we’re planning on moving again soon. But a pair of lookie talkies ought to do the trick. You do sell them, right?”

The magic mirrors had been a stable of Zonko’s.

“Only until we get done through the testing phase of our replacement.”

The Twins shared a look. Tonks shuddered.

“That settles it then. So,” she picked up the bra again, “as your favorite nanny, it’s my job to make sure you’re being led astray. So, answer me this…”

  
  


Pansy made her way through the Alley, grateful that Tonks had suggested splitting up. She had decided not to tell Tonks about her wand. Not until she knew what she meant.

Ollivander had been kidnapped. But Hogwarts was still open. That meant that first years were getting their wands from somewhere. And Pansy doubted many parents were going on the continent to get a wand.

It had been years since she set foot in the wand shop, not since she got the wand that was causing her so much doubt, but she still remembered the way.

Ollivander’s was quite open, though it didn’t look there were any customers. Pansy went inside without hesitation. She was going to get to the bottom of this.

The shop was run by a man and a woman. Ollivander’s children, she guessed. While they didn’t carry the same air as he had, they had the look of him.

“Good afternoon,” the man said. “How can we help you?”

Pansy double checked to make sure no one else was around. “I bought my wand here and I had some questions about it.”

She pulled out her wand, handing it to the man. He scrutinized it closely, testing out a few simple spells on it before handing it to his sister.

“What do you think, Iva?”

“Hmm. “Hawthorn and dragon heartstrings. 13 ¾ inches. Nice and rigid. Unusual combination. What seems to be the problem with it?”

“It’s been acting weird. And I remember Mr. Ollivander telling me something about it when I bought it. Only I can’t remember what he said.”

“Well, it’s a Hawthorn wand,” the son said. “It’s a hard wand to truly master at the best of times. They tend to pick witches and wizards who’ll have to face conflict. Either without or within.”

He gave it a nice bend. “Dad didn’t make too many rigid Hawthorn wands. Odd combination. You said it was acting weird?”

“Yes. I can’t seem to control the power of it anymore. Sometimes my spells will be overpowered, other times I could waving a stick around for all it does.”

“Hmm,” he said, sharing a look with his sister. “Well, I don’t know you obviously. But my dad told you the wand chooses the witch, right? Well, that can happen one of two ways with a first wand. Sometimes the matches balance each other out, but usually like attracts like. So if your wand is rigid, that could be the problem. Are _you_ too rigid right now or is there anything you’re clinging to or denying, because it doesn’t fit into your world view?”

He shrugged. “Something to think about.”

“Thank you,” Pansy said. It hadn’t really been helpful, but she wasn’t getting any more answers out of them.

 _Are_ you _too rigid right now or is there anything you’re clinging to or denying, because it doesn’t fit into your world view?_

That was the question she pondered as she walked out of the store and down the alley to find a clock. Maybe there was something to it at that. There was no denying she was somewhat set her ways. Her parents had raised her that way.

But now that she’d switched sides and joined the Order, her view of things was changing.

That must be it, she thought. She was going through a shock to her system and her magic was suffering. She’d heard of witches’ and wizards’ magic being affected by their emotions. She just need to find away destress.

She was figuring out how to accomplish that in the middle of a war when she got back to the Weasley’s shop. Tonks was already waiting for her.

“Got everything you need?” she asked.

“Yep,” Pansy answered. “Where to next?”

“I want to check in on Diggle and Jones.”

“And where are they?”

Tonks grinned. “Swansea. This is going to be fun.”

“Why’s that?” Pansy asked as Tonks apparated them. They arrived outside a seaside cottage.

“What do you know about Harry’s life.”

“Potter?” They walked up to the door. “He was raised by muggles, wasn’t he?”

She’d also heard that he hated the muggles he lived with. Ernie McMillan back in their second year would tell anyone who would listen that as evidence for his insane conspiracy theory that Potter, of all people, was the Heir of Slytherin.

“Yep,” Tonks nodded. “His aunt and uncle don’t exactly care for magic. Sort of like the muggle equivalent of purebloods. Not you, obviously.”

“So…”

“So Diggle and Jones are their guards.” Tonks was nearly beside herself with glee.

It wasn’t until later that Pansy understood why.

They were be “greeted” by a tall, thin woman with the longest neck Pansy had ever seen.

“Oh,” she said with a scowl. “You.”

“Good to see you too, Dursley,” Tonks said. “I want a word with your guards.”

She pushed her way pass the woman, pulling Pansy along with her.

“I hope you’re taking them with you.”

“Nope!” Tonks said cheerfully. “Oi, Jones. You here?”

“Tonks!” A dark hair witch with a full face and pink cheeks came racing down the stairs to hug the auror. “How are you? What are you doing here?”

“Just checking in on you and Diggle.” She looked around. “Where is he anyway?”

“Oh, he’s out with Dudley. I think he’s showing him fireworks.”

A grunt turned Pansy’s attention to what have must have been Mr. Dursley and she wondered however she could have missed the whale of a man.

“Oh, dear,” Tonks said, taking no notice of him. “I hope he’s not doing shooting stars again. I’ll tell you later, Pansy. Jones, is there a place we can talk."

Mr. Dursley grunted something that sounded like “Norway.”

But Jones led them into the kitchen instead.

Seated around the table, Jones asked, "So are you here to give us our new orders?"

Tonks brow furled. "New orders?"

"Well, yeah. Moody told us to stay with the Dursleys until we got new orders. But we haven't heard from the order in ages."

Tonks swore and Pansy put her hand on her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze.

"We haven't heard from the Order either. Not for ages."

"Oh," Jones looked crestfallen. "Dedalus thought there'd be some regrouping after Moody...you know. But if _you_ haven't heard anything...."

"I'll find out something," Tonks promised. 

She gave a hug to Jones and told her to give her love to Diggle.

"Where are we going next?" Pansy had to jog to keep up with Tonks, now striding out of the Dursley's house.

"Yorkshire." Her voice was curt.

Tonks took them a shabby cottage surrounded on all sides by thick groves of trees. Outside there was a tiny garden of plants Pansy recognized as potion ingredients.

Tonks pounded hard on the door, enough that the boards creaked.

"Lupin! It's Tonks. Get out here!"

A moment later, Pansy's old professor appeared at the door, wand raised and looking, if possible, greyer than he had her third year.

"Tonks? What are you doing here?"

"I want to know what happened to the bloody Order of the Phoenix, that's what."

Lupin's eyes narrowed. "What did Sirius tell you on Easter two years ago?"

"He admitted that the umbrella stand was jinxed to trip me."

Lupin, apparently satisfied, looked around sharply. "I wish you hadn't come. You'd better get inside."

Lupin's house was exactly the way Pansy would have imagined. Cramped, most of the space that was furniture was devoted to haphazard stacks of books and papers. Creatures, some she recognized from his classroom, were still in their cages.

The werewolf ushered them over to a thread bare couch with a kneazle sleeping on it, purring softly. He picked it up, sitting down across from them in an aging, red arm chair.

Tonk's looked around.

"Where's Emmy?"

"She's out shopping. We're...excpecting."

The old werewolf smiled, but it didn't match the sadness in his eyes.  
  
"Congratulations! When are you due?"

"You wanted to know about the Order," Lupin prompted.

Tonks paused. "Yes. Why isn't anybody else fighting?"

"We are," Lupin said. "In our own way. The Weasley are spreading the news. Some of us our going out of their way to protect muggles. We're doing our part."

He might as well have just quoted Potterwatch to them, Pansy thought. Did he really believe what he was saying?

"But why aren't we _fighting_?" Tonks pressed. "That's why we joined up. To fight. And we're just letting him win."

Her voice was shrill and a hint of a tremble crept through at the end.

"He has won, Tonks," Lupin said, gently, as if he were trying to explain something to a small child. "Dumbledore and Moody are dead and he has the Ministry. It's in Harry's hands now. Whatever Dumbledore left him to do, they're doing it."

Tonks shook her head. "You don't mean that. I know you don't."

"I spoke to them, you know? They're doing it alone, whatever it is." His lips twisted into a wry, humorless smile. "He was quite adamant about it."

"So that's it, then?" Tonks asked. "Pansy and I spend our nights warding muggles and Harry, Ron and Hermione go off on their mission while the rest of the order hides. Are you proud of yourself, Remus?"

"What would you have me do?" Lupin asked softly.

"We should be fighting back!" Tonks roared, her fist clenched, her knuckles white.

"I made a promise to Harry," Lupin said. "When the time comes, I'll fight with Harry. Until then."

"Yeah, awfully fucking convenient for you," Tonks said with a sneer. She stood up. "We're leaving."

She jumped to her feet, storming out of the cottage, leaving Pansy with Lupin.

Lupin sighed.

"You'll take care of her, won't you?"

"Sir?"

"If I know Tonks, she's about to do something reckless. Maybe she's right. You'll take care of her?"

"I've got her back," Pansy said, stiffly. "She knows that."

Lupin nodded. "You'd better go after her then."

Tonks was pacing, arms crossed and muttering. She was staring at the ground as she walk and didn't look up when Pansy came out the door.

"Are you alright?" Pansy asked.

"Do you to want fight?" Tonks said, looking up at her finally.

"You know I do." She'd been hoping to for weeks.

"No, I'm mean right now. And really fight. Not just hexing some stupid bigots."

"You mean..."

"I want to get the Snatchers. Lure them into a trap. I'm tired." Tonks kicked the ground. "I'm tired of telling myself I'm doing enough. I'm an auror. I'm supposed to be hunting them."

She smiled weakly at Pansy. "What do you say?"

"I say," Pansy smiled back, "that it's about time."

Grinning, Tonks took her shoulder.

They apparated to the center of a quidditch pitch.

"Where are we?" Pansy asked.

"The World Cup stadium," Tonks said. "Did you go? It was one of my first official assignments."

"Yeah. We couldn't get good seats, but we were there."

That had been a terrifying night. Pansy shuddered, remembering the screams of the muggles and the laughter of the Death Eaters.

Pansy followed Tonks to the abandon stadium and into the tunnels leading to the seats.

"There," Tonks said. "This should give us enough cover."

She disillusioned the pair of them.

"Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Pansy said. "Let's hunt some Snatchers."

"Wand out? Good. _Voldemort._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those times where in the writing, I realized I'd gotten it wrong twice. Or once, depending how you want to look at it.
> 
> In my outline, they started out this chapter by breaking the taboo. But it didn't mesh with Tonks' characterization. So I had it end with them discussing breaking it and deciding not to. That was the intended ending of this chapter until today, where I realized it wasn't right either.
> 
> Tonks hit her breaking point. She wants to fight and be an auror, but she also feels responsible for keeping Pansy safe. Finally she realized she couldn't do both entirely. And so here we are.
> 
> Disillusionment is such an under used spell in combat. In the right circumstances, it would be a game changer.
> 
> On the reference side of things, "eyes were edged with tears," comes from the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous break down." Both lookie talkies and "All we deal with are smiles" are references to "A Black Comedy", which is one of my all-time favorite fics and one I reread at least once a year. The theory that the giant squid is Gryffindor comes from the SuperCarlinBrothers, who do many quality HP videos over on youtube.
> 
> The secret project to replace the lookie talkies are something you've seen before and we'll see again, though not necessisarily in this fic.
> 
> I used a text-to-speech app this time to help me proofread. In the next week or so, I'll have to go back and re-edit previous chapters.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	13. The Trains Don't Come Back

Tonks motioned for Pansy to stay put as the group of snatchers walked past their hiding spots.

It was their fourth or fifth time snatching the snatchers. Their first time had been a mess. More snatchers had appeared than they expected and while the stands had provided them some cover, it had also made it harder to maneuver. It had been a job managing that one. They gotten better since.

They chose their days and spots at random. Nothing that could give them a pattern. That evening they were in Cornwall, taking the time enjoy a meal out before staking out a patch of forest.

Disillusioned and hidden behind trees, the snatchers-4 of them-passed between them. _Good_. They were untrained. Had they been, they would have made sure all their sides had been watched at all times. Instead, they walked in a line-not even side-by-side-occasionally looking to one side or the other. _Better still._

When they were far enough ahead, Tonks motioned for Pansy to follow her. They crept as one, taking care to not make any noise as they caught up with them.

Tonks silenced and the stunned the first one, catching him before he hit the ground. Pansy made her way to the next one.

Her heart stopped when he turned around.

"Oi!" He shouted. Pansy stunned him, but not fast enough to keep him from alerting his friends."

"Dodge!" Tonks shouted. She only just avoided the twin jets of green light.

Tonks fell and scrambled to her feet.

"Stupey!" Pansy's spell missed. She was still alive.

Her own hex bounced off against the snatcher's shield and the two of them were left battering away, trying to break through while they dodged attacks.

Tonks cursed when a jet of flame clipped her sleeve, burning the fabric and singeing the her flesh. The distraction was enough for one of the snatchers to blast her away.

Her world went black for a moment as she collided with a tree and crumbled to the ground. Coughing, gasping, trying to force air into her lungs, she groped, finally, miraculously, grasping her wand.

Tonks managed to push herself up on her elbows. She tried to force herself up, tried to stand, only to collapsed again.

Screaming. Pansy. _Got to help her. Can't let her die.  
_

Summoning all the strength she had, she staggered to her feet. Her vision still blurry, all she could see was flashes of light being traded back and forth. She shook her head a faltered forward.

As her vision cleared, she squinted, trying to distinguish snatcher from Pansy.

Green light. There. Pansy would never use the killing curse.

Her arm was shaky as she raised it and she had to brace her aim with her other hand. But they were moving to fast. She couldn't get a clean shot in.

She closed her eyes. _Can't let Pansy down._ She took several quick breaths, shoving all other thoughts from her mind.

_Can't let her die._

Pansy tossed and turned, trying to sleep.

That battle had been hell. Scrunching her eyes, she shook her head. The image of Tonks hitting that tree played over and over again in her head.

 _She_ _'s alright now,_ she told herself.

But in that moment, she was certain Tonks was dead.

In her rage, she hit the snatcher who'd done it with a particularly nasty bone crushing hex. Tonks said she reckoned he'd learn to walk again. Eventually.

The last one. A chill ran through Pansy. He'd been too much for her. She couldn't get a spell through, not for all her magic. She could only twist out of his way and he was getting nearer and nearer every time. If Tonks hadn't come...

She'd collapsed as soon as the snatcher was down. Pansy had run to her, clinging to her even as the woman promised she'd be ok. Even so, she could only just manage to sit up.

Pansy made quick work of the oblivation. Nothing fancy. No sudden, mysterious desire to start a new life. She'd wiped them clean.

Tonks had outright refused to go to St. Mungo's, refused to go to the Burrow and forbade Pansy from taking her to her parents home. But she was also in no state to apparate them anywhere. Pansy had patched her up as best she could, before summoning the night bus. Pressing more galleons into the conductors hand than he might have ever seen his life, Pansy demanded they take them home immediately. The snarl in her voice as she said it might have been enough.

Tonks was able to walk on her own by the time they arrived, or so she said. It didn't stop Pansy from keeping her arm around her waist through the lobby of the hotel and up the elevator, until she was finally pushed off in their suite when Tonks went off in search off potions.

The auror had collapsed on her bed, only insisting Pansy go to bed before she was out like a light.

Sleep not coming, she got out of bed and crept quietly to her shelf, careful not to wake up Tonks.

Finding the pictures she wanted was difficult without light, but she managed it in the end and made her way to the kitchen.

Eight spoons, she decided as she began to conjure them. That’s how many she need for her clock. One each for her family, one each for her and Tonks and one for Daphne.

It took her long than she’d anticipated, making the spoons. She’d distracted herself, looking over the old photos of better days. Her family’s vacation to Paris. Pictures of her and Daphne on the beach. Her sweet 16 birthday party. Pansy smiled, despite herself.

After making the spoons she could, Pansy went on a hunt through the flat, looking for a photo of Tonks. She had intended to get one from her later, but she was awake and in the thick of it now, and wanted to keep working.

Tonks didn’t keep many pictures of herself lying around, but she finally found one tucked away in a magazine. She’d almost missed it entirely and if Tonks hadn’t been using it as a book mark, she might have not seen it all.

It was a pictures her with the aurors, Pansy guessed, aside from Tonks, she only knew a couple of them by name, laughing in back, his arm around Bond, a black haired witch with a ponytail she’d remembered from her first year. Jones, a little younger, sat off to the side and Pansy knew she’d seen her somewhere, but couldn’t place it. Aside from them were three other wizards.

Tonks didn’t look much younger than she did now and it occurred to Pansy that this might be the last picture she’d taken with Adwr. Pansy copied the photograph and quietly set about making more spoons.

Tonks woke up, slightly sore but alive, to the smell of coffee.

 _She’ll do_ , Tonks thought smiling.

Pansy was sitting at the table, tinkering her way at something and looking so much like Mr. Weasley, Tonks did a double take.

“Whatcha doin’?” she asked.

Pansy held up a large wooden clock.

“My first project. Mr. Weasley gave me the notes."

Pansy had done a decent recreation of the Weasley clock, down to the locations. Seeing the pictures on the spoons, she wondered where she’d gotten some of the pictures.

Pansy’s family all seemed to be “Traveling”, while her old auror friends who were either at work or at home. She snorted when she saw Cadwaldr’s name; he was listed as being in prison.

“Not bad,” she said, making Pansy beam. “Where are you going to put it?”

“In the kitchen, I think. So we can keep an eye on it.”

Speaking of kitchen, Tonks remembered her mission and went to get herself a glass.

"Are...are you alright?" Pansy asked. Tonks waved her off."

“I've had worse. What would your friends think about that?" She nodded at the clock. "If they saw it?”

“Depends. If they didn’t know it was from the Weasley, I think they’d be impressed. Hmm.”

“What?” Tonks asked, sitting down with her liquid energy.

“I just realized I haven’t thought about them much since...you know.”

Tonks took Pansy’s hand.

“I’m sure they’re ok.”

Following her promise to tell Pansy the truth, she’d told her about her run in with Malfoy once things had settled down. Pansy had taken it well, saying she knew it was only a matter of time. Still, Tonks hoped the girl never had to face him.

“What’s the plan for the day?” Pansy asked.

“I’ve been think about how we both want to do more.” She set her cup down. “I have an idea, but it’s dangerous and we probably won’t be able to do it alone.”

“What is it?”

“You remember how Potterwatch talked about muggleborns being arrested?” Tonks asked.

Pansy nodded. They’d talked about it a lot when they first heard about it, Tonks asking Pansy if purebloods were really so stupid that they’d believe magic could be stolen. The girl had told her that most Purebloods would rather believe a ridiculous lie than admit their core beliefs were wrong.

“We still don’t know what’s happening to them either. And that’s what got me thinking. If we knew where they were being taken, we might be able to help them.”

“You don’t think they’re just throwing them in Azkaban?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s something we’ll have to check.” Tonks had given the question a lot of though and Azkaban just didn’t make sense to her. It was a formidable fortress, yes, but it’s reputation had taken a hit after so many breakouts.

And it was a known quantity. Especially to the aurors. Even they put up new protections, it would be riskier than finding somewhere new.

Pansy set her jaw when Tonks explained all this to her.

“Then,” she said quietly, “are you sure they’re not just being killed?”

It was another possibilty, Tonks had considered.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “First of all, there haven’t been any reports of them being dead, even from Potterwatch. Someone from the ministry is passing on information to the Twind.

“Besides, He may have control of the ministry, but he’s still not openly ruling the country yet. He’s scared, I reckon. Scared that’ll people will fight back. It’s not as easy to kill as people think.”

“Somehow, I don’t think the Dark Lord is scared of killing people,” Pansy said dryly. “But if there’s a chance they’re alive, we have to try.”

She smiled at Tonks. “Let’s do it your way then. Work this through.”

  
  


Tonks, back in her blonde disguise sat in the Witch’s Tit, waiting.

Normally, this would have been a question she’d have asked Cadwaldr, but Pansy’s clock still had him in prison, so she’d sent for Bond instead. Windsor, though no more senior than the rest of her class of aurors, was a big name. If anyone would know, it would be him. And he’d tell Bond, who was much better at disguising herself.

Ordering another drink, Tonks hoped Pansy was ok. She had the more dangerous mission, after all. But there had been no other way. She didn’t know the aurors, couldn’t be sure if they were who they said they were.

Tonks looked around. Where was she?

A wizard with brown hair and blue eyes, sat down across from her.

“Fancy seeing you here, Tonks.”

Tonks threw up a quick _muffiato._

“Bond?”

“It’s me.”

“How did you _actually_ break your foot?” Tonks asked.

“I dropped a frozen goose on it.” Bond answered. “Who was your first crush at Hogwarts?”

“The DA professor. Damn, she’s was something.”

Tonks hadn’t thought about her in year.

Bond, still in disguise, studied her carefully.

“Are you alright?” She asked. “We’ve been worried about you. Robbards told us what happened."

“What version?”

“The truth. He trusts us, the old gang. Said he didn’t want anybody risked over Lestrange.”

“Yeah. Didn’t even give me a say in the matter. But that’s alright. I’m still fighting the good fight.”

“What about Parkinson?”

“She’s fine.” Tonks smiled. “The fight’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. What do you know about the muggleborn trials?”

Even Bond’s talent disguise wasn’t enough to keep the rage from her face.

“Not much. We’re not allowed to go in there, the aurors. I know that Umbitch is the one running them.”

“Even after the Harry and his friends raided it?”

Rumors were going around that she’d been the target of whatever had made them go to the ministry.

“She’s like a phoenix,” Bond said, taking a sip of her drink. “No mattered how hard she gets burned, she always keeps coming back.”

Tonks skin crawled at the comparison.

“What happens to the people who are convicted?”

Bond shrugged. “That’s need-to-know and apparently aurors don’t need to know. They get put on trains-too many of them to portkey-and taken away. They don’t come back, that’s all I know.”

“Any chance their being sent to Azkaban?”

“It’s possible, but I doubt it. From what I hear, they’ve pretty much given up on it. Security reasons is the excuse. Mind you, that just means they’re doing something else there.

Tonks swore. She’d hoped to get something more than that. Anything.

Bond studied her closely.

“You’re planning on doing something stupid, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

“I’m planning on doing something _right_.”

“Same thing, these days. What is it?”

“Hadn’t gotten that far yet,” Tonks admitted. “I want to know what’s going on first, you know?”

“Moody thinking. Just let me know when it comes time to do something. We’ll help, me and Windsor. Maybe some of the others.”

“How is everyone?” Tonks asked. She tried to avoid thinking about them. She wasn’t worried about their safety, not really. They were clever, they were good and they could take care of themselves. No. She was more worried that some of them had chosen the wrong side.

Bond shrugged again. “We’re all on our nineteenth nervous breakdown, I think. It’s hard to know who to trust, you know. Windsor and I are doing are best to introduce a little anarchy. Robbards is holding things up.”

“What about the Awlishes?”

“I don’t know where they stand,” Bond said with a scowl. “Robbards trusts them, but I'm not so sure. Hawke’s a wild card, he’s got no love of the dark arts, but he’s got a mean streak. Dawlish’s the one who’s got me nervous.”

Tonks nodded. Dawlish was competent, but he was always a low-level thinker and he was by the book. Is there was any of them who would side with the new order…

“Have you heard from Adwr recently?" Bond asked.

“I saw him a few weeks back. He’s in prison now, apparently."

She gave Bond a quick rundown of Pansy’s clock.

“Hmm. I haven’t heard anything. I’ll have to look into that.” Bond stood.

“You’ll let me know, right? I’m still an auror, remember?”

Tonks smiled.

“Yeah, we’ll let you. Let me know if you find out anything we can use.”

“I’ll be seeing you then.”

 _They don’t come back_ , Tonks thought, taking another sip of her drink. It wasn’t much, but it was start.

She downed the last of her drink, paid her tab and went out to find a map. The trains bit was actually more useful than she thought at first. At the very least, it narrowed down where they were being taken.

She found one at newspaper stand, thanking the seller profusely. Map in hand, she’d made her way back to the hotel.

She was disappointed to find Pansy still hadn’t come back. Fears of all the things that could be happening flashed through her mind.

Shaking them from her head, she unfolded the map, laying it on the table and trying to pinpoint like locations for the new prison.

Pansy sat in the front of the court room, looking nonchalant as she waited for the trials begin.

Tonks hadn’t been happy with the thought of Pansy walking into the ministry, even if she was under heavy glamor charms.

But Pansy’s arguments had won out. Someone needed to go to the trials to see what happened and someone had to make contact with the aurors. And only one of them could do that.

And so they had spent the evening going over the plan, focusing heavily on how she was going to escape if something went wrong. She even had a map of the ministry that she could use in an emergency.

Pansy wasn’t worried. She wasn’t the one on trial. She was under heavy glamor charms and all she had to do was pay attention.

The most uncomfortable thing was how she found herself seated next to Rita Skeeter. Pansy groaned inwardly, remember how she’d given an interview to the horrid woman. She’d been a real bitch back in the day.

“Looking forward to the trials?” The reporter asked her.

“Not really,” Pansy said. “But it’s important to keep up with what’s going on.”

A flurry of motion caught her eye and saw the Quick Quotes Quill scrawling away. Fuck. So much for getting out of this without being in her next article.

“And what’s your name, dear? It’s so good to see a young woman take an active interest in the government.”

“Lily,” Pansy said. Tonks and Pansy had drilled each other on their alias and their backstories until the could answer any question automatically. “Lily Selwyn.”

“Ooh, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight! This is a good day. Tell me, Lily, what do you think about what’s going on?”

Pansy suppressed a smirk. There was an opportunity in this after all. “I think this is completely ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. We know how magic is passed on. The idea that some muggle can pick up a wand and cast spells is nothing short of willful ignorance."

Rita Skeeter wasn’t even trying to hide her glee. This was a nice bit of juice for the muckraker. And tomorrow, wizarding Britain would wake up to the news that a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight was denouncing blood purism. It would eventually be refuted, but not before people heard it and they’d never pay attention to the facts.

Her fourth year had taught her that well.

“Is that the official opinion of the Selwyn family?”

“It is and you can quote me on that,” she said, nodding at the quill.

She was saved from answering any other questions when Umbridge walked in. Looking as much of a toad as she did at Hogwarts, the evil woman was in rare form. Pansy had seen it before at balls. She’d probably been the same way a time or two in her life. Umbridge was the most important person in the room and she knew it and she was reveling in it. Pansy dreaded to see what the woman now that she could do whatever she wanted.

Pansy rose along with with everyone else as everything was called to order. Then the first defendant was called forward and Pansy blanched.

Justin Finch-Fletchly.

She knew him. Not well, but she knew him. She’d even talked with him a bit, back in their second year at the dueling club. From little she understood, he was from an important family in the muggle world, set down for a prestigious school.

Draco hadn’t liked him, though, because he was a muggleborn, so that had been the end of that.

Pansy clutched the edge of her seat as they questioned the boy. She had meant her words to hyperbole, but that was exactly what the boy was accused of. Umbridge insisted that he’d stolen wand from a witch or wizard and that he couldn’t have bought it from Diagon Alley.

Pansy wanted to vomit as Umbridge pretended to be merciful, promising him that he’d be let go if only he would confess to stealing magic. Justin, to his credit, refused to back down.

It took all Pansy could do to not intervene. She even clutched at her wand, in the heat of the moment. But good sense caught up with her. She was surrounded. If she tried anything, they’d both be arrested. Things might even end up worse for Justin.

Hating herself for it, she watched as he was taken away. She didn’t even find out where he was going.

She was numb through the rest of the proceedings. The trials were a waste of time. At no point were the muggleborns listened to. Even the ones who confessed were still taken away. The only difference was the length of the sentence and Pansy was certain that was just for show. No one who was taken away was getting out.

Umbridge, with unrestrained glee, thanked the Wizengamot for their time and their “wise decisions” before calling the trial to an end.

Rita Skeeter called after her, no doubt wanting more dirt, but Pansy was already off. She needed to get out of there before she did something rash.

She found Tonks back at the hotel, pouring over a map at their suites.

“Thank Merlin you’re back!”

Pansy thought she was going to be the one hugging Tonks and not letting go, but she found herself pulled into her embrace.

Pansy smiled. Despite everything, being with Tonks, being in her arms, felt...safe.

“What happened?” Pansy asked.

“Nothing. I didn’t find out anything. I was just worried about you. How was it?”

Tonks cringed even as she asked and Pansy explained everything that happened.

“I swear,” Pansy said, “on my magic and everything, I swear that’ll get them for this.”

Tonks nodded.

“Well, I’ve got a thought on how we’re going to do this, but take a look at what I’ve been doing.”

Showing her the map, Tonks continued, “That was the only thing Bond told me. That they’re being taken away on trains and that they don’t come back. I’ve been trying to figure out where the new prison is.”

Pansy saw the problem. It wasn’t that there weren’t any likely places, it was that were too many.”

“We have check all those places?”

Pacing, Tonks said. “I wand to check Azkaban, just to be through, but I don’t think it will make a difference.”

Pansy thought she new what Tonks meant. It had been on her mind as well.

“You’re afraid they’ve made it unplottable, like Hogwarts?”

“It’s what I’d do.” Tonks stopped her pacing and looked back at the map.

“You tried?” She asked Pansy.

“Exhausted.”

“Can you sleep?”

“Not a bit.”

Tonks pointed at the map.

“These places are on the way to Azkaban.” There were maybe half a dozen places. Not even half, but a lot. “We can do a flyover and see what we can see.”

She shrugged. “It’s a start.”

Pansy fidgeted. “Flyover? On a broom?”

“Yeah? Why not?”

“I’m not so good a flying,” Pansy admitted. The truth was, flying scared her. Being that far above the ground.

“Oh, that’s ok,” Tonks said, looking relieved. She must have thought Pansy had come up with a reason they shouldn’t do it. “I don’t have a spare broom to lend to anyway. You just have to hang on.”

Pansy opened her mouth to say that that was problem, but Tonks was already rummaging through her closet. She came back with a Comet 260.

“Not the best,” she said, “But it’ll hold us both. I might have to lighten myself a bit.”

Tonks morphed herself until she was considerably thinner.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Tonks apparated them near Clithroe. Pansy recognized the place. She’d gotten riding there with Daphne once or twice.

“Do you want be in front or in back?” Tonks asked, disillusioning them and pulling Pansy from her memories.

“On a train.”

“That may happen,” Tonks said gravely. “Come on, get on in front of me.”

Tonks mounted her broom and held it steady for Pansy to climb tentatively on in front of her.

“There,” Tonks said, wrapping her arms around Pansy and gripping the wood between her legs. “Not so bad, is it?”

Pansy shook her head, already feeling faint. Drying her hands on her skirt, she held on. “No, it’s that bad.”

Tonks giggled. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you.”

They kicked off and Pansy scrunched her eyes tight, refusing to look.

She tried to distract herself, cast her mind on anything else, but the wind on her face made it impossible to forget where she was and how daft it was.

Despite her fear, flying had been a fantasy of her’s one upon time. Not flying herself, mind, she’d never had any desire. But when Draco had gotten his broom and first started showing interest in her, she’d dream that Slytherin would win the house cup and Draco would take up her flying to celebrate.

It would be a perfect night, an under the clear starry sky, she’d feel absolutely safe despite her fears and when they’d landed, they’d kiss and it would have been the most romantic night of her 12 year old life.

Instead, she was flying towards a prison in the dead of night, almost hoping they’d be caught if it meant she’d be on solid ground again.

Still, it could have been worse. She could have been flying on her own. And Tonks did make her feel safe, in her arms. Tonks who had saved her. Tonks who made her laugh. Tonks who looked lovely when she dressed up and even lovelier when she smiled.

Pansys eyes shot open and jerked up.

“Everything ok,” Tonks asked, steadying the broom.

“I’m fine,” Pansy lied. She’d been remembering dancing with Tonks at the wedding and suddenly her mind was imagining kissing the woman.

But Pansy didn’t fancy Tonks, did she?

All the same, despite how much she tried to fight it, her mind kept running back to the thought Tonks’ lips and how they’d feel against her own.

“I think we’re nearly over one. Keep an eye out, yeah?”

Pansy nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

It was hard. Half of time, she managed to pry her eyes open and force herself to look and see nothing but countryside. The rest of time, her eyes snapped closed and she tried not to cry.

They flew for hours, finding nothing until finally Tonks said, “Ok, there’s Azkaban.”

Pansy opened her eyes to see the tower in the distance. It was every bit as terrible as she had imagined.

Tonks flew them to the rim of the prism.

“Wands out,” she said as they landed.

“Give me a minute,” Pansy said, her legs shaky. Never. She was never flying again if she could avoid it.

“Take your time. And don’t worry, we can apparate back.”

Pansy gulped and nodded, then blushed when Tonks put her arm around her.

_To be snogging her…_

_Not here,_ she thought. _We have a job to do._

“Never did get around to fixing the stairs,” Tonks said. She explained, “We destroyed two of them last battle. Not that it ending up doing much good. You sure you’re alright.”

“Just overheated.”

 _You’re not going_ _to get distracted,_ she ordered herself.

Side-by-side with Tonks, the crept down the stairs. Sweat rolled down Pansy’s forehead as her eyes darted back and forth. Every shadow looked like a dementor. Every creak sounded like a lurking Death Eater.

But as they descended into the bowels of the prison, they found it empty.

“This place is even creepier abandoned.”

Pansy nodded.

“I can’t decide,” Tonks said, “if we should go all the way down. They’re clearly not bringing anyone here, but we might find out something if they made this into some kind of base.”

They were about halfway down by Pansy’s estimation.

“Are we close enough to cast a revealing spell?”

Tonks shook her head. “And I don’t much fancy fighting anyone down there.”

She was clutching on to her broom for dear life, like Pansy had just little while before.

“We’re just going have to be careful. Be ready to make a quick getaway.”

Her hands full, Pansy could only take Tonks’ wrist. Pasting on a brave smile, she said, “We’ll make it. Don’t act like Adwr.”

Tonks scowled at her joke, but see didn’t seem to be insulted.

“Perish the thought.”

The closer they got to the bottom, the clearer it became that the prison wasn’t abandoned. The cells were still empty, but the torches had been lit and every so often, the wind was just right to carry voices to their ears.

Tonks cast a whispered spell and red human shapes glowed through the floors. Pansy counted. There were six, maybe seven of them. They were only a floor down.

She checked her body, shifting just enough so she could see. Through the dark, she could still she the shimmer of her movement. Good. The disillusionment was still up.

“Let’s keep going,” Tonk said, surprising Pansy. She expected the auror to insist they go back. At her look, she explained, “I’m tired of running. Let’s do something. If you’re willing.”

Pansy swallowed and nodded. She was ready. This wasn’t chasing down bigots, but she was ready.

Climbing down the stairs slowly, careful not to make even the slightest sound, they made it to the landing. Peaking around the corner, they saw group of witches and wizards sitting around the table. Tonks cast a spell on her ear, then Pansy’s. Suddenly she could hear everything they were saying.

“What day is it again?” one of the witches said.

“You’re getting forgetful in your old age,” another teased.

“This bloody island,” the first voice grumbled. “Everything runs together. How long do we have to stay here?”

“We’ve got another 4 days ‘til we’re rotated out.” That was a third voice.

They listened and Pansy hoped that they’d say something, anything that would give them a clue as to why they were there. But it wasn’t to be.

Tonks tapped on Pansy’s shoulder. Jerking her head up towards the stairs.

Pansy mouthed, “Can’t we fight them?”

Tonks shook her head. It wasn’t the place to argue. Pansy followed her up to the next floor.

“We’ll come back,” Tonks whispered, “once we have a few more people backing us up. I want to know what they’re up to here.”

Tonks mounted her broom. Reluctantly, Pansy climbed back on in front of her.

“Just across the sea,” Tonks promised.

It didn’t make it any easier for Pansy and she was thankful when they touched down.

Back at the hotel, Tonks sat down at the table. Pansy went to go get herself a drink.

“Want one?” she asked.

Tonks shook her head. “Actually, yes. We’ve still got a plan to make.”

Pansy came back with a glass of wine in each hand. Passing one to Tonks, she sat down across from her. Tonks downed it in one go.

“We’re going to have to do something risky,” Tonks said with a wry smile Pansy didn’t understand.

“Riskier than sneaking into Azkaban?”

Absentmindedly twirling the glass in her hand, Tonks didn’t answer right away.

“I’m not sure it’ll make a difference. Doing flyovers, I mean. We’re just guessing and hoping they haven’t hidden it.”

“So what do we do?” Pansy asked.

Straightening herself, Tonks said with a sigh, “I think one of us needs to get caught.”

“Caught? You mean by the ministry?”

“Yeah. From what you told me, that’s the easiest way for us to find the prison. The hard part will be getting out again.”

“Neither of us are muggleborns, though.”

“No, but the trials should be a matter of public record. Worse comes to worse, I can ask Bond again. We should be be able to take the place of one of them.”

“I take it by ‘we”,” Pansy said, “you actually mean you?”

“Unless you want to bet that the glamour will hold. I am the metamorphamagus here, remember.”

Pansy was torn between wanting to argue and accepting that this was something she couldn’t do.”

“When would we do it?” she asked.

“As soon as possible. Every day they’re in there…” She left the sentence unfinished.

“And how would you get out?”

Tonks let out a humorous laugh. “That’s the real trick.”

She ran her hands hair. “We could have a tracking spell on me, but we’ll want a back up. Lookie talkies or twined parchment. If we can sneak them in.”

Pansy didn’t like their chances of sneaking anything through. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but Tonks would only have what she’d find in there. She wouldn’t even have her wand.

“I’ll tell Bond anyway,” Tonks said, pulling Pansy’s attention back to her. “At least she’ll know to come looking for me.”

Tonks pushed herself up. “Let’s sleep on it, yeah?”

She didn’t wait on Pansy to answer, stripping down and climbing into bed.

Pansy followed her, hesitating at the beds. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon, Tonks would be waling into the hands of Death Eaters. Pansy told herself that Tonks knew what she was doing, but she couldn’t quite make herself believe it.

She wanted to crawl in bed with Tonks, cuddle with her and hold her, and let her know-let them both know-that it was going to be ok.

“Everything alright,” Tonks asked, turning over and looking up at her.

“Just thinking,” Pansy said. She climbed into her own bed. _Let Tonks sleep_ , she told herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're somewhere around the half point. That may be change depending on how the chapters get combined or expanded.
> 
> Pansy broke first but Tonks isn't far behind. I'm looking forward to them finally being together.
> 
> We're heading into a mini-arc. It's going to last until around chapter 17.
> 
> Bond is disguised to look like Roger Moore and her line, "19th Nervous Breakdown" is a Rolling Stones song of the same name.
> 
> I wanted to thank everyone who's come with me this far. It's been over 3 months now and there were times I wasn't sure I'd make it. Every one of you means so much to me and I hope you'll stay with me for another 3 months.
> 
> Thank you all!


	14. In the Camp

Tonks was dragged out of the court room as soon as she was declared guilty.

“Fuck you!” she told Umbridge. Why not? It’s not like it would make it worse for her.

She kept her expression blank as she spared a glance at Pansy. The girl had insisted on coming down to watch. Tonks had insisted she wear a new disguise. She’d agreed with Pansy’s statement to Skeeter, hugging her impulsively when she’d read the article, but it wouldn’t be a good idea for "Lily Selwyn" to show up again.

Their eyes met and Pansy didn’t react either. Tonks would have hexed her when she got out if she did, but part of her still felt the sting.

“Where are we going?” she asked the guards. Not aurors, she noted. Good. Less likely that she'd be recognized. Less likely that they'd be trained.

“Where mudbloods deserve.”

“Bermuda? I could work on my tan.”

She was roughly shoved into a cell with others who had been convicted. So crowded was it that there wasn’t even any room to sit on the floor.

She didn’t recognize any of the muggleborns there, most of them younger than her. Finding an adult in the back, she pushed herself back to the wizard.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” he said. Grey and with wrinkles on his face, he looked even wearier from the ordeal than his years should have suggested.

“What?”

“Taunt them.”

Tonks shrugged. “I can’t see it making things worse for me.”

“Things can always get worse.”

It wasn’t a debate she wanted to get into at the moment.

“Any idea where we’re going?” She asked.

“They haven’t told us.” He looked sharply at her. “What’s your name, girl?”

“Sarah,” she said, hold her hand. “Sarah Smith.”

“John McGregor,” he said, taking her hand in his calloused own and giving it a firm shake.

“I’d asked what you’re in for,” she said grinning, “but I think I’ve got an idea. What have they told you?”

“Only that they’ll take us to the train when they’re ready.”

“Hopefully not too long.”

“I’ve been here for two days already,” McGregor said.

Shit. She looked around the room again, noticing now the guantness in the prisoners faces, the edging on their eyes.

It’s not like the space situation was getting any better. Every 20 minutes or so, a new prisoner was brought in. Every new prisoner pushed them closer and closer together, until she couldn't moved with out bumping into a lest three people.

"Hope nobody here has dragon pox," she muttered to herself, earning her a humorless chuckle from McGregor.

Several hours later, the guards brought in a couple of stale of loaves of bread for them to pass around. Tonks nobility was beaten out by her pragmatism and she took her share.

When it got to the point where they couldn’t physically fit more people into the holding cell, not without giving in and expanding it, they guards let them out under wand point.

They were led through a series of tunnels Tonks had never seen before, not in all her years in the ministry. And how they’d managed to put in a subway under the ministry in such a short time, Tonks would never know. That was the power of the mindless bureaucracy, she guessed.

The train situation wasn’t much better than the cell, with no chairs or benches, but at least there was a bit more room to spare. Tonks debated with herself. She wanted to sleep. Who knew when she'd get the chance again and Moody had always said to get your rest while you could. On the other hand, the mission was to find out where they were being take. Waste of time if she failed.

Pushing forward through her aching feet and legs, Tonks found a space by a window. Compromise, then. She could sit and get a bit of rest and still check her surrounding regularly.

Her muscles sang out in relief as she sank to the floor. It was going to be a long ride.

It was dark outside when the train finally pulled to a stop. They were in the south. Cornwall, by Tonks' reckoning. She taken a trip down there with Cadwaldr and the others. Back when things had still been good. She idly thought she might take Pansy when this was all over. If they were alive, that was.

She was dragged to her feet by another guard. She bit her tongue, holding back any number of insults that came to mind, out of deference to McGregor. She wasn’t the one who’d have to deal with all of this when she got out.

They took her to a line of witches and wizards, more than she could count, queuing to get into what she guessed was a processing building.

It was a cold night, and without a warm coat, Tonks thickened her skin and huddled into herself to keep warm as best she could.

The line moved through the building and they were made to strip. She put her hand on the shoulder of the girl in front of her.

"It's going to be alright," she lied.

"No talking in line!" A hulk of wizard barked, punching her hard in the gut and forcing her back up when she stumbled.'

She would make them pay.

Tonks submitted to having her head shaved and being doused with any number of foul smelling potions.

She was given a set of clothes, shirt and trousers, and then they were led into a rickety wooden building. They had at least been given beds. Rows and rows of bunk beds, three high, packed their new home. Tonks spied a bucket in the corner that she guessed was meant to serve as their bathroom. Lovely.

Tonks didn’t pay much attention to the witch given them instructions, finding an empty bed on one end. She did catch that they’d be assigned jobs in the morning and that they weren’t to leave the cabin under any circumstances.

Rolling over so she couldn’t be seen, Tonks grimaced. She reminded herself that she was going to have to play the part of model, meek prisoner until she knew a little more.

  
  


It was before dawn when they were woken up again. Told to stay in their beds, they were brought trays of a meager breakfast consisting of porridge, bread and water. Tonks looked around to see how thin some of her fellows were. A few of them already looked on their last legs.

“We’ll want you in potions,” her guard was saying.

“Doing what?” She asked.

“Keeping a civil tongue, to start,” he said sharply. “They’ll tell you what to do once you get there, but expect to be making them. And mind you don’t botch them.”

He gave her directions and Tonks was allowed to walk there by herself.

The camp was a hastily put together thing, with uniform cabins just like the one she was staying in were thrown up haphazardly. Witches and wizards were trudging their way to their assignments. The guards were a constant presence, but they weren’t an overwhelming force. A revolt, even without wands, would go badly for them. It was an avenue to consider.

She walked into the cabin she was told to go to and her knees nearly gave out.

There he was. Gaunt, haggard and impossibly and dangerously thin. But even so, she would have recognized him.

Adwr. No, no, no. He’d left. He was safe. How in Merlin’s name had he’d found himself caught up in all of this?

Tonks miraculously disguised her gasp as a cough, causing both her old partner and the wizard who was giving him instructions. Adwr’s eyes widened and he nodded at her ever so slightly.

Tonks had to force herself on the directions she was given. She was seated next to Adwr. Good. She could work with that.

They had been set to work making healing potions. They weren’t allowed to speak and they weren’t given any alone time to even be tempted. But that wasn't the only tool at their disposal.

Years ago, back when they were in the academy, Moody had insisted they learn morse code, some muggle technique of passing on secret messages without a wand, magic or even a men. All part of his "Constant Vigilance". Dawlish had been the one to question him that time, getting himself turned in ferret for his trouble, before Moody had Windsor explain the use of it. And then he'd drilled them at it until they could, and sometimes did, do it in their sleep.

If only Moody could see them now.

 _What are you doing_ here? she tapped out.

_Got caught. You?_

_Same. When can we meet?_ There was too much to talk about.

_Night. Can't leave cabins except for work and showers._

_Where._

_Dump._ Adwr tapped out _Center of camp. Know where it is?_

 _I can find it_. She promised.

_Midnight._

She looked him up and down again. Adwr was in the bad way. Up close, she saw the thinning of his normally think face, the hint of bone underneath his skin. Had she seen him a night, she might have thought he was an inferi.

They were worked through the day, not even stopping for lunch. By the time they were finally released back to the their cabins, Tonks was more than a little a loopy from the potion fumes. She was forced to stop to catch her balance, stumbling more than once and even falling over entirely.

“Oi! Get up!” Her world flashed black when the kick connected with her ribs. They kicked her again, when she didn’t immediately get up and she only narrowly missed a third as she scrambled her feet.

Clutching her side, Tonks limped back to the cabin, their laughter burning in her ears.

Their dinner was the same as breakfast. Disgusting as it was, Tonks scarfed it down eagerly. It wasn’t nearly enough. It was something that was going to be an issue the longer she stayed.

Tonks looked around in vain for a clock. By the sun, she guessed it was around seven. Adwr had agreed to meet her at midnight.

Her stomach growled. At least her hunger panes would keep her from over-sleeping. Curling over, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

Tonks eyes shot open. Through the window, the moonlight shown from on high. It must be nearly time.

Getting up, she wandered over to bucket in the corner-just in case anyone was watching-letting her eyes adjust to the light. The stench of it made her eyes water. Tonks shut her nose.

Aided by morphing her pupils to dilate to an impossible degree, the inside of the cabin was almost as light as day.

No one else was awake. Or, at the very least, no one else was stirring. Even the guards seemed to be gone.

 _Must_ _be outside_ , she thought. There was a chance that she might just be able to walk out. If the guards were anything like aurors, they preferred to slack off on late night duty.

Even so, as she crept to the door, she made herself as thin and as short as she could, doing everything she could to make herself slight.

She knelt at the door, ear-pressed against it. Nothing. Tonks cracked the door and peered around. Nothing.

The street, such as it was, was clear in front of her cabin, but there were figures in the distance. Tonks ducked behind the cabin. Adwr had told her to meet him at the dump. It was a fairly straight path from where she was, but obviously she couldn’t just go straight there. Not with guards around.

It was slow going, as Tonks was forced to dash from building to building stop at each one before checking. More than once, she got turned around and once, for one terrible moment, she thought she was spotted when a witch turned her way just as shr poked her head out.

Tonks waited, heart pounding so loudly she was sure it could be heard, until she heard the pair of guards walk away.

When she got to the dump, she found Adwr crouched down on the ground.

“That you, Tonks?” he said when he saw her, his voice raspy. He tried to stand and faltered falling to the ground.

Tonks ran over to him.

“Adwr!” She hissed. She felt herself pale. He looked, if possible worse than he had this morning.

“I’m fine,” he lied, the effort of speaking leading him into a coughing fit. “Just dying.”

“We’ve got to get you out of here.” He wouldn’t last the night.

“You’ve got a portkey tucked up your sleeve?”

"Not exactly."

Not that they hadn't tried. They'd considered everything from rings to take teeth to shoving a signal activated portkey up somewhere painful. They were fairly confident they could sneak something past the eyes of any watchful guard, but not past a sneakoscope. Not that it had ended up mattering.

So she was one her own.

"I'm going to have to steal a wand."

Eyes still closed, he nodded. "Just hang on a tic."

Taking a a few quick breaths, he managed to roll over onto his stomach. But pushing himself up proved to be too much of an effort. He made it to his knees before his strength gave out and he fell again.

"Don't hurt yourself," she whispered softly.

"I don't think I can feel it anyway. What's your plan?"

"Got any suggestions?"

He rolled back over to his back and shook his head.

"They always travel in pairs," he said. "You'll have to take two of them no matter what. No spot's any better than the other, I reckon."

"Anything else?" Tonks asked.

"Try not to die?" he suggested. You're kind of my ride out."

Tonks smiled despite herself. "I'll do my best. You too."

Tearing herself away from Adwr, Tonks crept back out into the night. Half of her wanted to run out into night, strangle the first guard she could find with her bare hands and nick their wand. The other half, the half that sounded like Moody no matter how hard she tried, told her to be smart.

Her eyes darted, looking for the perfect spot. By the cross roads? No. Too open and too likely to run into someone else.

She dashed behind a cabin.

The ditch? They'd have the high ground. It would be a killing zone.

She kept crouched, back stuck to the side of the wall as she made her way around to the side.

And came face to navel with two guards.

They hesitated. She didn't. In one quick move, she tackled both of them.

When out numbered, take out one quickly. Don't fight them both at once. That had been Moody's teachings. She'd never had try it outside of of training. And never without a wand.

Thickening the bones in her hand so that her fist was nearly twice it's normal size, she'd punched one in the throat, throwing all her strength behind it. He crumpled back to the ground, clutching his already bruising throat. She punched him again, this time in the head, knocking him out. One down.

"What the hell?" His friend shouted, already back on his feet and dragging her off him.

Tonks flailed and they fell. She kicked, trying to get him in the groin, trying to connect with anything that would hurt.

He a foot and at least a hundred pounds on her, and he easily pinned her to the ground.

"Oi!" He shouted. "We got a loose one."

 _Shit_. She only had a minute before she was overtaken. Fighting, struggling, she tried to sweat, tried to make herself slippery.

It worked. Too busy to keep her from kicking at him, she slipped her wrists free and wrapped her hands, both equally gigantic now, around his throat.

The wizard trashed and pulled, hitting her wildly. It didn't matter, she told herself through the pain. Just so long as he was dead.

But as much as she wanted revenge-for her, for Adwr, for everyone in that hellhole-it wasn't to be. Footsteps were approaching. She didn't have time. She pushed him off her, scrambling to her feet as he gasped from breath. Giving him a kick in the chin as parting gift, she scooped up his wand and ran.

 _No time to waste_ , she told herself. As she ran, she disillusioned herself. Maybe they see her, catch a glimmer of her as she passed. It didn't matter. By the time they tracked her down, she'd be long gone.

She found Adwr still lying where she left him, his breathing so shallow, she thought it was too late.

"Tonks?" he asked. "That you?"

“It's me," she said, running back to his side. "Are you good to travel?” It didn’t matter she was taking him out of there one way or another.

Adwr managed a weak nod.

Tonks pulled him, hugging him tight and pulled them out of there. A tug behind her belly button, a lound crack and a moment later, she was in their hotel room.

“Tonks!” Pansy jumped up from where she was sitting on her bed and rushed over to them. “...Adwr? What happened?”

“I don’t know yet. Here, help me get him in the bed. With Pansy’s help, they dragged Adwr to his feet, practically lifting him of the ground. Something they never would have managed had he been at full health.

Tonks held him up, the wizard clinging to her as Pansy pulled back the covers for him. Adwr sank into the bed so lifelessly, Tonks thought it was too late. Then, slowly, he opened his eyes.

Tonks looked back and forth, trying to decide what to do. They couldn’t help him, not on their own. But if she left him…

“Pansy,” she said. “I need you to go and get a healer. St. Mungo’s. Do you where it is?

“Yes, but-”

“Tell them we haven’t a patient that can’t be moved. Tell them that he’s severely malnourished.”

She got a chair from the table and, pushing past Pansy, sat down next beside her best friend.

“Tonks…”

Tonks looked up at Pansy, worry etched over the girl’s face.

Tonks shook her head. “I can’t leave him. Please…”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back after a impromptu half time break. I was traveling, so it should happen again. If it does, I'll do my best to warn to all in advance.
> 
> Tonks' metamorphamagus is something that isn't always well-explored in fics beyond disguises. I'm not trying to claim that I've done as well as I could have, but it's been fun seeing what she can do. Obviously, I'm operating under the premise that that Tonks has pretty much full control of her body. I don't know how canon that is, but this is fanfic.
> 
> Thank you to all who stuck with this and thanks for reading!


	15. Back to Health

Pansy ran through the streets of London on her way to the entrance of St. Mungo's, pushing herself forward despite her own exhaustion.

It had been hell for her, the last day.

It had started for her when Tonks was declared guilty. She knew it was going to happen-the plan dependent on it-but that didn't stop her heart from wrenching. Tonks had looked up at her, and Pansy’s heart broke. She almost jumped up when their eyes met. Only Tonks' safety kept her from not shouting. Arms crossed and wrapped up in her coat, Pansy’s walked back to the hotel room alone. Her thoughts dancing through what Tonks might be going through.

Back at their base, Pansy tried to force her fears from her mind. When her mind couldn’t focus on any of the books she tried to read, she dug out her sketch pad. Absentmindedly drawing, she had realized she’d made a portrait of Tonks. Tracing the lines of Tonks cheek, Pansy smiled at the likeness.

No one ever came back. That’s all they could find out. Worse of all, she had nothing, betting everything on being able to steal a wand. What if it didn’t work? Or, worse, what if they caught her? What would they do to her? Tonks had no way of contacting her. Pansy might never see Tonks again and she’d never told her she loved her.

Pansy dropped the sketch pad.

 _I love Tonks_? The idea was so ridiculous, but as soon as she thought it...everything clicked.

Pansy wandered around the hotel room aimlessly.

Tonks. Silly, clumsy beautiful Tonks. Tonks who made her happy. Tonks who made her laugh. Tonks with the soft, full lips. Lips that Pansy longed to feel against her own.

_I love Tonks._

The thought did nothing to comfort Pansy.

Pansy rushed through the abandoned department store that hid the wizarding hospital, not even bothering to check for muggles. Let the ministry worry about that.

Pansy had only been to the hospital once, when her grandmother had come down with a case of dragon pox. Striding over to the receptionist, Pansy didn’t give him the chance to speak.

“I need a healer. My friend is sick and can’t be moved.”

“What’s the issue?” the young wizard asked.

“He’s severely malnourished. We’ve got him into a bed, but he’s in a bad way.”

The wizard scribbled something on a bit a parchment and folded it into a plane, throwing it down the hall behind them.

“Someone will be with you shortly.”

Pansy paced, the seconds dragging.

“What’s seems to be the issue?”

Pansy turned. A soft faced wizard, bag in hand, had appeared where Pansy was certain no one had been their a moment before.

“My friend is malnourished. We can’t move him.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. He just turned up.” She’d let them figure out what excuse that they wanted to give him.

“And you’re sure he can’t be moved?”

“I’m not sure he’s going to make it. Please,” she grabbed the healer’s wrist, pulling him along with her. She let go when the healer started walking with her.

“Where are we going? Can we apparate?” The healer held out his hand. “I’m Healer Barry, by the way.”

“Daisy. We’re staying at the Treehouse.”

“I know it. Damn it, there’s no apparation points nearby.” As they continued to walk, Barry drilled Pansy for details. “How old is your friend?"

“He’s around 24.”

“What are his symptoms?”

“He’s really weak.” Her mind flashed back to the sight of him. He wasn’t thin enough that she could see his bones, but… “He was gaunt. And very thin. The last time I saw him, he was healthy.”

“How long ago was that?” Barry asked.

“More than a month. Maybe two.”

“Has been taking potions? Illegal ones, that is?”

“I don’t think so.”

They were nearly there now, rounding a corner and seeing the hotel’s door. Pansy was practically running. What if he didn’t make it? What if she was too late?

The wait for the elevator was agonizing, but as Pansy pushed the button for their floor, Barry pulled out his wand. Pansy lurched as the elevator sped up.

“This isn’t my first house call,” Barry explained.

Not nearly soon enough, they stopped on her floor. Barry followed Pansy as she led him to the room.

Tonks was still at Adwr’s side, still holding his hand when they burst in.

Tonks looked up when they came in, but didn’t stand.

“Is he…” Pansy asked, not daring to finish the question.

“He’s alive.”

“I wish I wasn’t,” came Adwr’s voice, light and frail.

“Shut it,” Tonks snapped. It was the first time Pansy had heard her truly, deeply angry.

Healer Barry maneuvered around them to the bedside.

“Shit.”

Adwr’s laughter turned into a coughing fit.

“Am I going to make it?”

“I think so. Ladies, you may want to leave the room.”

“I’m not leaving him,” Tonks said.

And Pansy wasn’t leaving Tonks.

“Then stand back please.”

Pansy pulled Tonks back to the kitchen. She was trembling. Pansy took her hand.

“He’s going to be alright.

Tonks smiled down at her, squeezing her hand.

They watched as Barry pulled back the blanket and examined Adwr’s chest, pouring any number of potions down his throat. It was only then that she noticed that Adwr wasn’t wearing the tattered shirt he had been when he they came in. Tonks wasn’t wearing hers either. His was off somewhere, Tonks having evidently taking the time to change.

Barry poked and prodded, muttering things she couldn’t hear.

Finally, he stood and walked over to them.

“Your friend is stable, but I’m not going to lie. It's bad. Does he have a place to stay?”

“He’s staying with us,” Tonks said immediately, “if that’s what your asking.”

“Good.” He pulled out a parchment in quill. “He’s going to need a lot of potions, starting tomorrow. I’ll leave the first couple of days’ worth with you. You can get more from St. Mungo’s. He’ll need to be on them for at least two weeks and we’ll want to do a follow up then.”

“It’s important that you follow these instructions," he said, handing Tonks the parchment. He looked over his shoulder at Adwr. “You are not to strain yourself for _any_ reason. Wait at least a few days before you try any magic.”

Back to Tonks, he said, “Seriously, you have my permission to tie him there if you need to.”

“Kinky!” Adwr quipped.

“He can go to bathroom-he’ll need help-but that’s it. It would be best if he wasn’t left alone. Do you have any questions?”

Tonks looked over the list. “I think we’ve got it. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“James Barry. You can owl me if you have any questions.”

Thanking him, Tonks showed him to the door while Pansy looked over the list and pulled her own chair over to the bed.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Leave him be,” Tonks snapped.

“Leave _her_ be, Tonksie. I know you’re dying to grill me too.”

Huffing, Tonks sat down beside him. “Fine. What happened?”

“I got caught, didn’t I? I was doing some contract work for some wizards who run a mostly muggle firm. Security spells and the like, that sort of thing.

“Well, I don’t know what exactly they were doing, not my business, but then the ministry raided us. No one I new. Next thing I know, I was being carted off to Umbridge.”

He spat the name.

“But you’re not a muggleborn,” Tonks said.

“It didn’t matter,” Adwr said, shaking his head. “I was with muggleborns so I was 'aiding and abetting'.”

Tonks took Adwr’s hand again, and Pansy's heart sank.

“How long were you there?”

He managed a half shrug. “About a month, maybe more. The days started to blend together, but I got picked up about a week after I saw you.”

He rolled to one side and pushed himself up on one elbow, swatting Tonks’ away when the tried to get him to lay back down.

Looking them in the eye, “I reckon you were right. You’re still fighting? Then as soon as I’m strong enough, you’ve got yourself a partner again.”

But by the way he collapsed onto his back, Pansy didn’t think he’d be fighting anyone any time soon.

She stood up, pulling Tonks up with her and leading her to bed. They’d have to share for now.

Putting her arms around her, Pansy held Tonks as she continued to tremble.

“It’ll be alright,” she whispered to her again.

  
  


“Let me do it myself!” Adwr complained.

“The healer said you needed to be helped. Now stop being an idiot for 5 fucking seconds and let me help you.”

Adwr had his own suggestions for what the healer could do upon his own person, but submitted to letting Tonks help him to the loo anyway.

It was the second day after his return and after a couple of solid if meager meals-healer Barry had been clear that he was to ease himself back into strength, rather than trying to stuff himself-the man had predictably decided he was on the mend and could do everything himself again.

“See, I-”

Adwr swore as he slipped and fell, dragging Tonks down with him.

“Yeah, Adwr,” Tonks said, giving her old partner a pointed stare.

“Shut it,” he grumbled.

“Are you ok?” Pansy said, hastily putting down their breakfast and rushing to their side.

“We'll be,” Tonks said, untangling herself and staggering to her feet. “If we can brew a wisdom potion for him.”

“Alright, alright. I get it. You win.” He’d tried and failed to get up on his and was now sitting there, looking helpless. “Now would you help me up?”

Tonks glanced at Pansy, then smirked down at him. “I dunno.” She crossed her arms. “Serves you right. Maybe sitting there in a time out will teach you something.”

“Oh, come on!” He whined. He looked between them. When neither of them looked in a hurry to help him, he said, “Fine, I’ll just lie here being in the way then.”

He leaned back, folding his hand behind his head, closed his eyes and hummed to himself.

“You know I hate that song,” Tonks grumbled. Making a show out of looking put out, she said to Pansy, “What do you think? Should we go around him or just step on him. I’m thinking maybe the squishy bits."

Adwr poorly covered up a wince as he continued pretending not to listen to them.

Pansy rolled her eyes at the pair of them.

“I don’t much fancy tripping over him, so…”

“Well, if you didn’t insist on wearing those heels,” Tonks shot back.

But between the two of them they were able to get him to the loo, more than happy to let him handle that part himself.

Tonks smiled at Pansy as she went to retrieve their now lukewarm breakfast. The girl really was a peach. And waking up in her arms, after being held the night before...

“What would I do without you,” she murmured to herself.

“What was that?” Pansy asked, handing Tonks her coffee.

“Hmm. Oh, nothing.” _Why_ _am I blushing_ , Tonks asked herself. She felt like she did in school, all the times she’d just narrowly been caught at something. “Just thinking out loud.”

“About what?”

Tonks jerked her head towards the door. “Him. Just thinking if there’s something we can do to make things easier for him.”

“You could find me a billywig!” Adwr shouted through the door.

“You’re not any less allergic than you were the last time! Little bugs that’ll make you float if they sting you,” she explained to Pansy.

The girl nodded.

“Yes, I took Care of Magical Creatures,” she said dryly.

“Sorry. Anyway. Nutters do it for a high. We got sent out to break up a deal and arrest a few junkies. Only they bugs go out and before we could nab them all and this IDIOT,” she shouted again, smiling to herself at the memory, “got himself stung half a million times. He was floating for days.”

“I told you it wasn’t my fault! And I’m done.”

“It was a hundred percent your fault,” she laughed. To Pansy, she said, “He opened the box to get a close look, see. Bloody curious cat, that one. Are you decent, Adwr?”

“I mean, no, but there’s nothing to offend your delicate sensibilities, my lady.”

As Tonks and Pansy helped him to the sink, he said, “If you read the report, it clearly said they opened it when we caught it.”

“My daddy’s ministry donations hard at work, I see,” Pansy said, earning a snicker from Tonks.

“Et tu? Anyway, I actually had some thoughts on that. Mobilizing me that is. Either you ever hear of a wheel chair?”

Tonks glanced at Pansy, seeing she was equally confused.

They helped him back out, setting him up, on his request, in one of the chairs.

“Thanks. I get sick of that bloody bed, you know. It’s a muggle thing. Exactly what it says on the tin. With a little practice, I think I could get in an out of it.”

“I don’t think Healer-” Tonks started.

“Probably not,” he agreed, "but the least we can do is owl him right?”

She sighed, not wanting to admit it was a reasonable request, on principal if nothing else.

“I still don’t know anything about them.” She wasn’t going to give in. Not just yet anyway. It was, after all, up to her to protect him from himself.

“Me neither,” he admitted.

“If it’s a muggle thing,” Pansy said, “Arthur Weasley probably knows about it.”

Snapping his fingers and pointing at her, he said “She’s right.”

Tonks was skeptical. “The same Arthur Weasley who tried to ‘stitch’ his bite wound two years ago. Some daft muggle technique? _That_ Arthur Weasley.?”

“You’ll have to tell me that story another time. And I don’t see the comparison. Anyway, I said we’d run it by Barry first anyway, didn’t I? What’s the harm in finding out?”

“I could go ask,” Pansy offered, “if you wanted to stay here.”

Tonks was torn between being irritated with her and wanting to hug her for being so helpful.

She smiled weakly at her.

“Thanks, Pansy.”

She shook her head. “Just save me some of the whiskey,” she teased.

  
  


Pansy walked through the streets of London, once again en route to Diagon Alley. She didn’t have to go. It would have been quicker, easier, to apparate. But she was deliberately taking a longer route. It was the best way to get a little time to think. To get a little time to herself.

_I love Tonks._

Despite all that had happened, that thought hadn’t been far from her mind.

She’d tried to convince herself she hadn’t meant it. She didn’t really love the auror. She’d been scared after all, hadn’t she? Tonks was in the camp and she didn’t know what was happening to her. Tonks was all she had anymore.

And if it were just that moment, she might have even believed it. But there was that night of flying. Ever since then, she’d haf fantasies of kissing the woman. Of...other things. Even as she waited for her to come back from the camp, the thoughts plagued her.

So what did she do about it? Did Tonks- _could_ Tonks-possibly feel the same way about her? The idea seemed unlikely. She didn’t even know if Tonks even fancied other women.

Coming up to the Leaky Cauldron, Pansy sighed. If Tonks were a man, this would be so much simpler. After all, Draco had been simple enough to trick into asking her to the YuleBball. All it had taken was a little bit of coquettish charm and a few well placed hints and next thing she knew, she was the belle of the ball.

She shook thoughts of dancing with Tonks from her mind and found a clear bit of floor to apparate from. That could wait until after she’d decided what to do.

“So what’s the word, doc?” Adwr asked.

They owled the healer after Pansy had left and, much to their surprise, he had knocked on their door shortly thereafter.

“I thought I should come by in person,” he explained. “This isn’t my first auror. I know what you lot are like.”

“He must be talking about you,” Adwr said. Tonks didn’t meet his eye. She wasn’t going to needle him on that. Not anymore. She gave them a bit of privacy as Barry examined him again.

“Decent progress, for two days. You’ve been taking your potions?”

“Religiously.”

“Whether he wants to or not,” Tonks said, rejoining them.

“See that he does. Now, your owl said you wanted to try out a muggle device? A,” he pulled out the letter to verify the phrase, “’wheel chair’?”

“Yeah,” Adwr said. “I’ve heard about them. Basically, they’re just like they sound. A chair with wheels on them. I figure it would make it easier for me to get around.”

“Tell him the rest,” Tonks said. To Barry, she added, “He thinks he can get himself in and out of it.”

“That part’s out of the question,” he said immediately. He looked sharply at Adwr. “This is a two part process. If you rush through the first part, you could permanently cripple yourself. Unless that’s your goal.”

“It is not.”

“Then I want you in that bed when at all possible and not exerting yourself. We have to get you strong enough to rebuild your muscles so you can do anything buy yourself again.”

“But after,” Adwr said, hopefully.

“We’ll see in about a week. If it’s just like you say it is, you should be fine to sit up in it. I’ll have to do my research on my own. Even then, I don’t want you trying to move yourself. And I want you to go to bed the second you feel tired. Don’t push yourself to stay awake.”

Adwr nodded, though he clearly wasn’t happy with the news.

“What kind of timeline are we looking at, doc?”

Barry sighed. “Best case scenario? We can start your physical therapy in about three weeks. That will give your body time to stabilize. You’re young and I assume you were fairly healthy?”

Adwr nodded again.

“Then you might be able to get through the strengthening regimen a little quicker, but,” he pointed his finger in his patient’s face, “that’s on me to decide, not you. Got it?”

Tonks snickered as Adwr held up his hands in mock surrender.

“It would help if you could tell me more about what happened, but I get the impression that that’s not happening?”

Adwr glanced at Tonks.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Will you at least tell me how long you’ve been malnourished?”

“A month,” Adwr said. “Maybe more.”

“Then you can expect at least two months until near-full recovery. Sorry,” he said with a shrug. That’s just the way it is. Easy in, hard out.”

It was a mark of how serious the situation was that neither of them made a comment about _that_ one.

“Wait,” Adwr said suddenly, “what do you mean ‘near full-recovery’.?”

“There can be complications from starvation. We’re lucky we caught it before it got any worse or it might have been too late.

“But,” he said, standing up. “We can talk about that later. For now, I just want you to focus on taking it easy. One step at a time and all that. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?”

“I think that’s it for now,” Tonks said.

“Then I’ll check in an about a week. Good day.”

“Sorry,” Tonks said when the healer had left. “I know that wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”

Lying back down, Adwr shrugged. “I guess. I’m not surprised. He’s was right about one thing.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m kind of tired. I’m just going to shut my eyes for awhile.”

It had been like that ever since the first morning back. He’d wake up, usually when Tonks had a potion for him, and have a quick burst of energy. Then, quick as you like, he’d be conked out again. And every single time, Tonks would have to stand over him until she was satisfied he was still breathing.

When Pansy was around and she caught her at it, she’d stand beside her. Tonks smiled. It was easier, knowing she had her.

“Budge up, you great lump.”

She crawled in next to him and curled up.

“It’s going to be alright, yeah?” she said.

“I know. I just want to be better. I want...I want to hurt them, Tonks.

“I do too.”

Pansy’s visit to Arthur had taken longer than she’d intended. He’d ambushed her with questions about her clock. Apparently Tonks had mentioned it in an owl to Mrs. Weasley.

But it had been productive. Mr. Weasley was able to tell her all about wheel chairs. More than she would have imagined possible, even with her new appreciation of muggle ingenuity. The powerful clelectrick ones he mentioned seemed above what they needed for their purposes, but it was a question for another day.

So she thanked Mr. Weasley and left on a new mission. He’d told her that a lot of muggle shops just sold the things out right. If it was a simple as all that, she could just picked one up and have a nice surprise for everyone.

It took her a few tries to find one. She was determined to have a better experience this time than on her first muggle adventure.

The shop she finally found it in was bigger than any on the shops she’d ever been in in either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. In fact, she was quite certain several stores from either could fit inside this one. Another thing to ask Tonks about later.

The wheel chairs, after she properly explained to the attendant that she didn’t just mean a chair with wheels on, were quite portable. It was light enough and even folded up. Yes, she thought, that would do nicely.

She paid for it easily-since they left gone semi on the run, Tonks had insisted she carry at least a little bit of muggle money at all time just in case of an emergency-and returned back to the hotel, ready to be greeted as a hero.

And then she saw them. They didn’t answer at first, but Pansy knew they had to be there. Adwr couldn’t leave and Tonks _wouldn’t_ leave.

She glanced over to the bed and heart broke. Adwr was still there, alright. And there Tonks was, curled up next to him. Still sleeping, they hadn’t noticed her walking in, hadn’t even stirred when she had called out their names. Only her dropping the chair in shock woke Tonks.

Hopping up with the practiced instincts of an auror that Pansy had only normally seen in battle, Tonks was on here feet with her wand out about before Pansy could get her apology out.

“Sorry,” she grumbled, knowing she was doing a poor job of hiding her sullen feeling. She really didn’t need the sight of Tonks training her wand on her on top of seeing her in bed with Adwr.

“No, I’m sorry. You just startled me is all. You ok?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Pansy said, not meeting her eye. “It’s just kind of bulky and awkward.”

Tonks eyes widened. “Is that it? You actually found one? Brilliant!”

“It was nothing,” Pansy started, smiling through the pain despite everything. But her words were stifled when Tonks pulled her into a tight hung.

Pansy was never one to consider herself worldly in the matters in love, her knowledge based on scant experience with the gaps filled in with romance novels. So she could never understand how the heroine always seemed to feel torn. If you loved someone, as far as Pansy was concerned, you loved them. If you didn’t, you didn’t.

But in that moment, Pansy understood, because in that moment Pansy both loved and loathed the woman. Loved her for all that she was and loathed her for making her feel that way, seemingly unawares.

“What would I do without you?” Tonks murmured.

Relenting, Pansy hugged her back.

 _Spend all your time with_ him, she wanted to say.

“Be a wreck, obviously,” she teased.

“Probably. Show me how it works?”

They tested it out, Adwr snoring softly the whole time. Tonks had Pansy push her around in it longer, she thought, than was strictly necessary, but she was at least fair and let her have a ride too.

After they were certain they could operate it, they very carefully put it away and made a vow to never let the Welshman know they had until they’d gotten approval from Healer Barry.

“So, what else did the healer say?” Pansy asked.

Tonks had just finished up ordering take out for them-Indian, this time-and joined her at the table.

“Mostly that it’s going to take a couple of months for him to recover and he probably won’t ever get back to where he was and that if he pushes himself too hard, he’ll hurt himself.”

She’d said all this very fast. She was on edge. Pansy reached out to take her hand, but faltered.

 _Don’t_ _be stupid_ , she told herself. _You’re just comforting your friend._

The cruel part of her, the part of her that was distinctly Slytherin, thought that she wasn’t exactly above stealing Tonks away from Adwr if that was an option.

Tonks squeezed her hand lightly when she took it.

“It’s going to be alright, Tonks.”

The woman smiled weakly.

“I know, I know. It’s just…”

“Yeah. So…” It was time to discuss their next moves. “What do we do now? About our patrols?”

“Barry said one of us should stay here at all times. I don’t like the idea of you going out on your own,” Tonks said. She gave her hand another squeeze and her heart went a flutter. She hadn’t even realized that she’d still been holding it.

“But I know I can’t force you to stay here either.”

Pansy made a non-commital sound. She wasn’t sure what she wanted either. Tonks was rubbing off on her, her caution if not else.

Tonks smiled at her. “I’ve been thinking about that actually. I reckon I’ve been to over-protective of you, kid.”

“Maybe a bit,” Pansy admitted. “But it’s better than you letting me do something stupid. ‘I reckon.’”

She stuck out her tongue. Tonks had occasionally made fun of her and her “poshness”. Turn about, after all, was fair play.

“I won’t do anything dangerous,” she promised. “Well, nothing too dangerous.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

That night, the first of Pansy’s torment really began. They still couldn’t adjust the room to add more beds, which had been fine when it was just the two of them. But now there were three of them and for whatever reason, Tonks was going through the motions of pretending she and Adwr weren’t together.

Pansy didn’t see the point. She'd already caught them at it, even if they’d just been sleeping that time and even if Tonks hadn’t tried and excuse it.

Maybe it was propriety’s sake. Tonks never cared much for that sort of thing, but maybe sleeping with her lover in front of someone else was too much even for her. Whatever the reason, Pansy found herself sharing a bed with Tonks.

Before she’d come back with Adwr, that would have been a dream come true. Even before, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Now? Some part of her wondered if Tonks was evil enough to torture her on purpose.To be so close to her and not be able to do anything about it. She wanted to scream.

And she ended up have a very restless night, trying to keep comfortable while still be careful so as not to touch her.

She wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

Adwr, as could have been expected, continued to be stubborn about his recovery regimen. Tonks had enlisted Pansy’s help in keeping him in line. The girl knew more dark curses than either of them combined and while she didn’t know if Pansy was actually willing to use them, Adwr wasn’t willing to call her bluff.

As promised, Healer Barry owled them a week later to set up a time to visit them. Ever pessimistic, Tonks thought, he didn’t seem unhappy with her partner’s progress. Not enough that he was willing to cut down on the timeline on recovery, but enough that he was willing to approve the chair on a probationary basis.

It had taken all of Tonks’ skill, well honed from years of dragon poker at the academy and in the ranks, for her to keep her face even when the healer lamented their chances of even finding such a thing. Had either of them been paying close enough attention to Pansy, they would have noticed a positively Dumbledorish twinkle in the girls eye as she quietly went to the closet and produced the chair.

Adwr looked near tears when she pulled it out and insisted on trying it out immediately. Barry insisted on examining it first. It might have been the first time anyone from St. Mungo’s had seen such a thing. Only after Adwr had promised yet again to not get into himself did he allow Tonks and Pansy to help into it.

“Ten galleons says I can pop a wheelie!”

He was still snickering at his own joke when Barry smacked the back of his head.

“Are you happy now?” Tonks asked.

“Much. I am at perfect viewing level.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“She can still curse you, you know,” Tonks said. To Pansy, she added, “Feel _encouraged_ to do so.”

Despite her eagerness to get back to the field, Pansy never seemed to manage it. Obstensibly, it was because it wasn’t safe. And because Tonks needed help nursing Adwr back to health. his progress was steady and he was able to keep more and more down, as well as stay up longer and longer without needed a nap. Tonks probably could have managed on her own, if she really had to. But that didn’t mean she didn't need a break.

But an evil voice in the back of Pansy's head told her the reason she was staying behind was really because she didn’t want to leave the two of them alone together for too long.

It was petty and childish and so doomed to failure that Pansy denied that had anything to withreluctance to rejoin the fight. Part of her was still afraid it was true.

It would have been easier if you could bring herself to hating Adwr. He did, after all, have what she wanted. She had found it easy enough to despise Tracey Davis for the month and a half that Draco was interested back in their 4th  year.

But Adwr, when he wasn't relying on them for everything, he was likeable enough. Still under strict orders not to do any magic, to the point that their wands were kept well out of reach, he helped Pansy with her practice. After all, if she wasn’t going to go out without Tonks, she was at least going to keep sharp.

“Not bad,” he said, complimenting her on her defensive shield. “Don’t be afraid to turn your body more. You never know when some bastard’s going to be strong enough to break through. Give it another go.”

Tea in hand and happily in his chair, he’d been working with her all morning. Tonks was taking a well-deserved lie in. Pansy could see the enough likeness in their styles that could see the shadow in what must have been Moody in them. But while Tonks had drilled her heavily in defensive magic for her own sake, she relied more heavily on offensive magic in a real duel. Adwr seemed more the natural at it. She mentionedit to him once when they were taking a break.

“Yeah, I was always the support,” he said. “Tonks handled the heavy firepower. I was there to keep her alive.”

He glanced over to see if she was going to react to the jab, but she was still fast asleep.

“What about you, bach?” he asked. Bach, she’d learned from Tonks, was a Welsh term of endearment Adwr liked to use. Something like “dear”. She suspected that was the truth as the man himself had told her it meant he thought she was good at playing the piano.

“I don’t know,” Pansy said. It was something she thought about from time to time. She shrugged. “I just try and do what seems best in the moment. I don’t have time to think about offense or defense.”

“Well, it’s not something you think about consciously,” he explained. “It’s more like instinct. All other factors aside, what’s the first thing you do. Tonks likes to distract them. Me? I prefer to get a few shields up. Some people prefer to set up a trap.”

Pansy didn’t have an answer for him.

“Pity we don’t have a pensieve lying around. Might give us an idea. No matter. I’ll be out in the field again soon enough, you’ll see. Then I’ll be able to tell you.”

If Adwr had any doubts about being able to fight again, he never let anything on. He wouldn’t ever break the healer’s or-Pansy suspected was more important to him-Tonks’ instructions. But that didn’t stop him from pushing himself in whatever way he could. 15 more minutes awake. Another mouthful or two of food. For all Tonks talked about him being a coward, Pansy just didn’t see it.

“You’re coming along better than I would have expected,” Healer Barry said on his next visit.

“Told you,” Adwr said cheerfully, somehow managing to stretch his already sing songy accent out of those two short syllables.

“You’re ready to start physical therapy,” the Healer said. “That doesn’t mean I want you running a marathon or whatever it is you do. Slow and steady. Your muscles are atrophied. Do you know what that means?”

“Aye, it means that they’ve weakened.”

Barry nodded. “I’m impressed.”

“So’m I,” Tonks said with a grin. “Who knew that a home school education was worth anything.”

“We can’t all be posh.”

If Tonks was posh to him, Pansy wondered what he thought of her.

“Anyway,” Barry said, before the two of them could derail the conversation further. “You should be good to be left alone for short periods of time, but I want you supervised anytime you’re out of that bed.

“As long as I don’t need people watching me _in_ bed.”

“I hardly think you need to worry about that,” the healer said dryly, eliciting snickers from Tonks and from Pansy, despite herself. “I’ve written up instructions for your exercises. These include both physical and magical. Remember, that you can still push yourself to hard. Keep and eye on your heart. Palpitations, racing, anything. Assume the worst until I tell you otherwise.”

“I swear he’s got me in the grave already,” Adwr said, after the healer had left.

“He’s only keeping you alive, ‘bach’,” Tonks said, kissing his cheek, breaking Pansy’s heart again, and taking the instructions from his hand.

“Hmm,” she said. “Not a whole lot to start, I see.”

“Yeah, I’m an invalid, I reckon, according to him. Think someone will lend me a staff.”

“Only if you do something stupidly heroic.”

Adwr grunted. “We have more important things to talk about anyway.”

“Yeah?” Tonks said. “What’s that?”

“Yeah. What are we going to do about the camp?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going off the assumption that you can't apparate anywhere you're not familiar enough with. Therefore, Pansy can apparate to the Burrow, because she's been their twice recently, but not St. Mungo's. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
> 
> Most of the basis for Adwr's recovery regimen is based on bits of knowledge gathered over the years. Given how behind wizards are on things, I didn't want it to be too modern. If you want to read a story where someone is nursed back to health after starvation, John Caldwell's "Desperate Voyage" is one of my favorite books. A true story, it's the account of WWII vet trying to sail single-handedly to Australia to get back to his girlfriend. His recovery was a major cornerstone for what Adwr goes through (aside, of course, from other obvious WWII parallels.)
> 
> Given that wheel chairs have been around for more than 2000 years and the ones we're familiar with date back to 1665, it's a stretch at best that St. Mungo's doesn't know about them. They may actually show up in book 5. Chalk it up to artistic license.
> 
> "Budge up, you great lump" is what Hagrid says to Dudley in book one.
> 
> As for James Barry, he was a real person. Born Margaret Ann Bulkley, he was the first biologically female doctor in Britain, a feat achieved by living as a man. During a 50 year career (including his education) he was never found out, despite possibly given birth at least once and treated several famous people (including Napoleon!). His inclusion is a tribute to him.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	16. The Gathering

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going and that’s final,” Tonks insisted.

“Hah! I’d like to see you stop me!”

They’d been going at it like that, off and on, since the subject had come up. Pansy had left them to it.

Tonks uncrossed her arms and threw her hands in the air.

“Fine. You want to come? Then come. I won’t stop you.”

Adwr raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Really.” She put her hands on her hips and smirked at from him across the room. “Just as soon as you walk over here.”

Pansy watched as the two lovers stared each other down.

“Fine, then I will."

He might pretend that it was easy. He might have even tricked someone who wasn’t paying close enough attention. But she could see the strain in his eyes. To his credit, he made almost half way across the room to Tonks before he started faltering.

“Adwr-” Tonks started, but he held up a hand to stop her.

“I’ve got it. Just...hang on a tic.”

He stepped slowly, deliberately.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Tonks said. Her defiance was cracking and the concern was leaking through. But her partner didn’t stop until he was close enough to put his hand on her shoulder.

“As I said. I won’t fight. But I’m going in. Now, we still need to figure out how we’re going to do this.”

Pansy followed them over to the table, now covered with a large sheet of parchment. On it were sketches of buildings and roads-a map-that changed every so often when one of them, usually Adwr remembered this detail or that. Along the edges of the map, they’d scrawled notes on the wards they expected to encounter. Anti-apparation, definitely. Blood wards, unlikely. Fidelius, out of the question. And then some that Pansy had never even heard of.

They’d been work on it for the last couple of days and it still looked hopelessly scant to Pansy. Adwr had been there, yes, and he’d seen a lot of the camp. But it wasn’t like he'd gotten free reign.

“Another reason to track down a pensieve,” Adwr had told her.

“Of course,” Tonks said, “none of that changes the fact that all two and a half of us aren’t going to be enough to take on an entire camp.

“Right, we’re going to need at least six and a half of us.”

“You joke,” Tonks said, “But it may come to that.”

They’d told him about the Order after it was clear he was going to pull through. Pansy got to relive the disappointment in Tonks at the revelation that the Order would probably not be coming.

“Doesn’t leave us with a whole lot of options. You said Bond and Windsor would be good for it. What about the Awlishes?”

“I’ve got my misgivings about them,” Tonks said, absentmindedly playing with her hair. “You know them.”

“Yep. Hawke’s got a mean streak and John’s not that bright. Still, given the option, I’d rather take them than not.”

“Unless they’ve sided with the ministry.”

Adwr groaned. “Hadn’t thought of that.”

“What about Jones and Diggle?” Pansy asked.

“Hestia’s still around?” Adwr asked, perking up. “How’s the little thing doing?”

“Bored out of her skull, last I saw. She and Diggle are guarding the Dursleys. You know, Harry’s muggle family.”

“Think they’ll come?”

“Oh, without question. Although we may have to tell them it’s Order business. You know, in case they don’t want to abandon their posts."

“Keep it on a simmer, then. And there are no order members at all willing to help?”

“Not unless something’s changed since the last time we asked.” Tonks looked at Pansy who nodded, in agreement.

“Worst resistance group ever.”

A thought did occur to Pansy, though.

“Tonks,” she asked. “How many people do you think listen to Potterwatch?”

“They didn't say, the twins. I reckon most of the Order.”

“What about outside the Order?”

“Probably some. Whoever the Twins trusted and however it passed from there. You’re thinking we should try to do a little recruiting?”

“Couldn’t hurt.”

“It might help,” Adwr said. "Mind you, that would require either opening ourselves up to being contacted, which opens up it’s own set of issues. or having a bunch of people show up with no plan and start slinging spells.”

“On the other hand, at little bit of anarchy might work out in our favor,” Tonks said with a grin.

“Yeah, until they think we’re the targets.” Pansy must have looked disappointed, because Adwr turned to her and said, “Don’t get us wrong. It’s a good thought. We just need to do a little bit more thinking on it.”

He clapped her on her back on the way back to his wheel chair. “We’ll make an auror out of you yet.”

“Someone has to replace you,” Tonks teased. She threw her arm around her shoulder, squeezing her close. “What do you, Pansy? Wanna be my new partner?”

Pansy was keenly aware of the side of Tonks chest pressing into her own and was glad for not the first time in her life that she was a girl.

 _Partner in bed, maybe_ , she stopped herself from saying. _If you ditched the man._

“Maybe when this is all over.” She actually hadn’t given much thought to what she was going to do after the war. She never had. Nothing beyond, “Make the Parkinson name great and carry on the family line, if not the name.”

“You’ve got plenty of time, yet,” Tonks said. “Can you two hold down the fort while I go track down a little help? Gonna hit up Bond and Windsor.”

“I think we got it from here,” Pansy said, glancing at Adwr. “You’re going to behave?”

“Never do,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll do my best.”

“Remember you can hex him,” Tonks said. “I won’t be long. See you later.”

“Come on,” Adwr said, wheeling himself over to the table. “time for a little more auror training.”

“Not now,” Pansy said. “I’m exhausted.”

She was looking forward to a long shower, where she didn’t have to make awkward conversation with the roadblock and maybe catch up on her reading.

“I wasn’t talking about magic.” He produced a deck of cards from nowhere. “Good for a round?”

Pansy snorted. “So what you’re saying is you're bored and you want to play?”

“You’d be surprised what you miss.”

Pansy shot him a look. “No ‘dragon poker’ or whatever it is.”

Tonks had told her all about the game and how the aurors had played it on slow nights.

Adwr chuckled. “Have you ever played poker?”

When Pansy shook her head-her parents would die if they found out one of their daughters had done anything so unladylike and the Slytherin boys had never invited any of the girls to join them for their games-he said, “Another time, maybe. We’ll work your way up to it. Start off with five card draw.”

Whatever that meant.

“Let me take a shower first, yeah?”

Pansy took longer in the shower than strictly necessary, mulling over what she was going to do.

 _Slytherins use any means to achieve their ends_. The words the hat had sung to them all those years ago. Tonks was who she wanted. So she should try and snatch her away.

But she wanted Tonks to be happy. Was she happy with Adwr? They got along well enough, but ever since that day she’d caught them in bed together, they hadn’t been affectionate at all to each other. At least not beyond normal friend levels. In fact, if Pansy didn’t know better, she would have thought they weren’t together at all.

She was going to get more information, that was the only thing for it. Course decided, she got out and changed into her night clothes.

She came out to find the table cleared off and Adwr thumbing through the paper.

“You didn’t do magic, did you?”

She was sure her wand was out of reach, but…

“Of course not.” Not looking up from his reading, he waved his hand idly at the pile of papers in the corner. “Didn’t even get out of the chair.”

He folded up the paper and threw it down in disgust. “I don’t know why I bother reading this shit.”

Pulling out the deck and shuffling it, he asked, “Ready?”

Pansy sat down across from him. “Nothing’s going to explode or anything?”

“Heh. No, it’s not exploding snap. It’s strictly a muggle game. Nothing magical about it.”

He dealt out the cards, explaining the hands and the rules of the game. Pansy was sure she’d need more than a couple of reminders, but the game seemed straightforward enough.

“And this is was how you passed the time when you were an auror.”

“On the slow nights, yeah. And there were a lot of them in those days.”

Pansy smiled at the wistful look in the man’s eyes. As if he were talking about a long ago year from his childhood. It couldn't have been much more than three years based on what Tonks had said.

_Time to do a little digging._

She wasn’t going to ask personal details of their relationship. For one thing they seemed dead set on pretending to be platonic. And she was going to at least _pretend_ to be respectful of their privacy. At least for moment.

“We’re you partners with Tonks already?” She looks at her cards. Not bad, if she understood. One pair already.

“Yeah. That was pretty much straight away.”

“We’re you two friends before? At Hogwarts? Three cards.” It was the kind of information that, on the whole of it, wasn’t that useful to the cause. But it was a back door entrance that would allow her, eventually, she hoped, to ask more personal questions.

Adwr shook his head. “Didn’t go Hogwarts. Too much to do that home.”

“Oh.” She knew that some families chose not to send their kids to Hogwarts, but she’d never actually met one who hadn’t. “So how did you meet?”

“They set us up with partners pretty much the minute with got off the train. Mind you, we hated each other then. I’m taking two.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, swear to Merlin. Robards threatened to separate us or bounce out, we were going at it so bad.”

The phrase “going at it” put visions in Pansy’s head she didn’t particularly want.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Different personalities. Still do, actually.”

She could see it, actually. It had been easy for Tonks to switch from hate to love.

“How did you get over it?” Pansy flipped over her cards. She’d lost, badly, her one pair to his full house.

“You remember the Cliff? He dealt out the cards again.

“How could I forget?”

Adwr nodded, as if it were a fair point.

“It was Moody’s idea, sending us their until we worked out our “differences”. He chuckled. “I think you can still see some of the damage we did.”

Pansy thought back. She’d only been there once and it had been after dark, but she thought she remembered a tree that had some considerable damage.

“That was you?!”

“That was us.” He chuckled to himself again. “We just started throwing spells at each other until we just sort of exhausted each other and fell over.

“Tonks first, of course. Not that she’ll tell you the truth, if you asked.” He winked at her.

They played until Pansy had lost track of how many games they’d played. The only thing she knew was that, if she wanted to keep playing, she’d have to get a lot better. She won a few games, maybe slightly more than just sheer luck, but not enough that she wouldn’t lose all her gold in the long run. Still, it was a way to pass the time.

Pansy asked more questions the longer than play in the guise of making polite conversation. Nothing immediately jumped out as something she could use to seduce Tonks away from him, but she stored it away in her wellspring of wisdom in case it ever came in handy.

They were still at when i tTonks came back, a big bag with deliciously greasy smells wafting from it.

“I brought fish and chips!” she announced.

“God bless you for a kind girl,” Adwr teased. “You get to live.”

Tonks just stuck her tongue out at him.

“I hate you,” Pansy grumbled. “You’re going to make me fat.”

“Please,” Tonks said, shoving her gently. “I wish I had your body.”

“You _could_ have her body.” Adwr pointed out.

“Good point.” Tonks scrunched up her face and a moment later, she was a perfect replica of the real thing.

“Please,” Pansy said, her voice pained. “Please don’t do that.”

The last thing she needed was the mental of image of her and Adwr together. Or, arguably worse, her and her.

“Right, I remember now. You didn’t like that the last time either.” She turned back to her normal self, sitting down with them and placing the bag in the center.

Despite her words, Pansy ate her own share greedily. It was something she’d never had growing up, not even once. And her mom would be horrified at the sight of her eating habits and her table manners. But some days she felt as she could be happy eating nothing else.

“Any luck?” Adwr asked as the three of them polished off the last of their meal.

“I got into see Jones and Bond, so they’re coming with Windsor. And of course, Diggle.

She frowned at the name.

“Don’t count him out,” Adwr said. “He did survive the first war, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but you’ve never met him, have you?”

“Well, no,” he admitted.

“Wait until you meet him.”

“Is anyone else coming,” Pansy asked. “The...whatevers.”

“The Awlishes? No.”

“Tonks…” Adwr started.

“I couldn’t find them, could I? And, yes. I did try. Hawlish wasn’t around and Dawlish was busy.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly the kind of thing you put in an owl. Damn it!”

Pansy knew the feeling. Seven was better than three, but it wasn’t as good as nine. Taking over a prison camp was going to be hard enough as it was.

“I did talk with the Twins,” Tonks said, turning to Pansy. “They’d be willing to send out a message-any message-if we need to. I haven’t told them what yet, but I can’t think of how we’re going to pull this off if we don’t have a few extra wand hands backing us up.”

Adwr still looked doubtful, but he didn’t say anything.

“Anyway,” Tonks said, “they’re coming tomorrow. I hope that’s alright with everyone.”

Pansy looked around the hotel room. They'd long given up any pretense of trying to keep it clean, what with every they went through.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, then.”

Pansy had Tonks exactly where she wanted her, half-naked and pinned beneath her. Her usually short, spikey hair flowed over one side of the bed, cascading through different colors as she squirmed under the ministrations of Pansy’s deft fingers.

“Say it,” she breathed into Tonks’ ear.

“Uh uh,” Tonks said with a shake of her head, squirming against her, playing at trying to break free as she tried to drive Pansy as wild as Pansy was driving her.

“Just say it.” She’d always given in. Always. Tonks always won. But not this time. Pansy redoubled her efforts.

“Never.”

“If you say it,” Pansy said, stopping her work, “I’ll make it worth your while.”

It was their game and despite her threats, Pansy never won. But she’d get her this time. Tonks was moaning and if she wanted release, she’d tell Pansy she loved her.

Pansy groaned as Tonks rolled over and kneed her in the stomach.

“Even in your sleep you’re a klutz,” she grumbled to the snoring woman beside her. She looked over. Adwr was sleeping too. Sighing she got up in search of breakfast.

It had been a roller coaster for her, these last two weeks. On the one hand, Tonks and Pansy had been forced to share a bed, putting her closer together than ever. But it didn’t matter. Not when she could see the way Tonks and Adwr looked at each other.

Forgoing food, Pansy went to take a shower where she could have some privacy if they woke up.

The truth was Pansy never had any chance to begin with. Following Healer Barry’s instructions to the letter, Adwr was making great strides. Potions were half the battle. Most of it was getting enough food into him, training his stomach to take a full meal again and working his muscles up again. Tonks had trained Pansy, yes, but not with the same attention she paid to Adwr.

No, Pansy told herself. She wasn’t going to cry, even if she was alone.

She failed.

If there was another girl in Tonks life that Pansy had to compete with, at least she’d have a chance. She was perfectly able to steal away anyone she wanted, thank you very much.

But this wasn’t different. If Tonks didn’t fancy girls, there was nothing she could do. The best thing for it would be to move on.

She spent longer than she needed to, taking the time to compose herself. She smiled. At least they were in a hotel and Tonks couldn’t complain about her hogging all the hot water.

By the time she got out, Tonks and Adwr were up. They were sitting at the table, laughing over a cup of coffee.

“Oh, oh!” Tonks shouted. “Do you remember that time they got into that jousting duel?”

“I’d forgotten about that!” He was near tears. “What was that about anyway?”

“Don’t you remember? They were arguing over dragon poker.”

“Yeah, but why the jousting?”

“Bond told me they tried playing War, but all the cards matched.”

“I don’t believe you,” Adwr said. “I don’t believe a word you say!”

“Swear on magic that’s what she told me. And she swore on _her_ magic. You can ask her next time you see her.”

Pansy sat down in between them.

“What’s the plan for today?” she asked.

“I’ve got to go to the healer’s and have a check up. And I’m going to need a new wand.”

“We’ve also got to decide what we’re going to do about the camp,” Tonks said gravely. "Once the others get here."

“Remember, you still have to take it easy,” Tonks told him as the three of them walked out of St. Mungo’s.

They'd gone, on Adwr insistance to get his wand first. Probably, she guessed, because he wanted to get it before Barry had the chance to say no. Not that he had. After his usual grousing about how Adwr wasn't out of the woods yet, he sent them off with instructions to keeping building up his strength and to check in with his progress.

“Hard to do when I’m about to storm a prison camp,” he whispered.

“If we let you. What do you think, Pansy? I reckon the two of us could take him.”

“Easily,” Pansy said, her eyes on the stores they passed.

Tonks threw her arm around her, squeezing her tight. What would without she do her? She have to find a way to thank her.

Pansy still didn’t meet her eye, but her face flushed.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said.

Bond arrived with red haired wizard with a regal look about him Pansy didn’t know. Counting off inher head, she confirmed that it wasn’t a Weasley. At least not one of the ones she knew.

“Pansy, you’ve met Bond. This is Windsor.”

“Call me Ed.”

While Pansy was shaking his hand, Bond made a beeline for Adwr.

“Missed you too,” he grunted through her hug.

“Tonks told me what happened. You’re never doing anything that stupid again.”

“Yes, ma’am. I won’t get ambushed again.”

She swatted his arm. “I mean going on alone.”

“Help?” Adwr asked Windsor.

“Come on,” Windsor said, guiding Bond away.

Then he took his place, hugging Adwr too.

“Damn it, Windsor! You too?”

“Shut it, you great prat.” But he let him go. “Good to have you back, mate.”

Pansy helped Tonks expand their table and their little group now had a war council. Tonks gave them a run down of what they’d been up in the last months, with Pansy interjecting with anything she’d left out. Windsor whistled lowly when they talked about breaking the taboo and Bond grinned.

“Nicely done!”

“That’s about it, though,” Tonks finished. “Only two of us, you know?”

“Three, now,” Adwr corrected.

“Five,” Windsor said. “Seven, when the Awlishes show up?”

“We weren’t sure about them,” said Tonks, side-eying Pansy and Adwr in turn.

Bond shook her head. “I see that, but they’re alright. You know Hawlish.”

“Yeah,” Adwr said, “Always looking for an excuse to fight. And he’s got a cruel streak that runs deep.”

“Yeah, but also always looking for a chance to stick it to the man.”

“What about Dawlish?” Tonks asked.

Windsor and Bond shared a smile.

“Dawlish is our man on the inside.”

“He’s alright,” Bond confirmed.

“So that’s seven. Nine with Diggle and Jones.” Tonks said, grimacing. “Who else can we get? Any chance of Robbards joining us.”

“Doubt it,” Bond said. “He’s still got to play the role of loyal sycophant.”

She shook her head. “Be a bloody miracle if he doesn’t have a heart attack before the year is out.”

They set aside the question of who they were going to bring in as they worked on the plan for how they we’re going to take the camp.

Adwr’s memory helped a bit, giving them the general layout of the camp and about how many people there were in the camp. But it wasn’t enough to get a complete idea.

On the second day, Bond showed up with a pensieve she smuggled out of the ministry. They’d gone in, taking note of as much of their target as they could.

“The real question,” Windsor said, as they worked on their map, “is what to do with the people in there?”

“The guards?” Bond asked, nestled in between her partner and Adwr.

“Well, yes. Them too. But I’m really talking about the prisoners.”

There was a collectively feeling of “oh” from the revolutionaries sitting around the table.

“Can we do anything with them?” Dawlish “Beyond letting them out?”

“Where will they go though?”

“They’re going to need help,” Tonks added, glancing at Adwr. “A lot of it.”

“We’re going to need a bigger place than this.”

They had done what they could to fit the lot of them in their room. Tonks and Pansy had agreed not to do anything major to the room. They’d kept the do not disturb sign up pretty much 24/7 and did the cleaning themselves. But they had to let the staff if occasionally, if only to avoid suspicion. Even having all of them in their was a stretch.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Pansy said. “And I have an idea. It’s big enough for all of us and private enough that we probably won’t be bothered. The downside is that we’ll need to repair the wards-not the mention the wall-and that it’s kind of obvious.”

“The wall?” Tonks said, suddenly grinning. “You mean the manor.”

There was a round of agreement to at least surveying the manor and seeing if it was viable.

“It’ll take a lot of work,” Bond said. The crowd of them were gathered, with much more elbow room than they’d had before, around the dining table.

“The wall won’t take too long,” said Windsor. “It’s the wards I’m worried about. We don’t have a house elf, do we?

Tonks quickly shook her head.

“Pity. Then it should take us a couple of days, if everything goes exactly right. And we should probably take care of that before…” He trailed off.

“Before we save them, you mean?” Tonks glared at him.

“Yeah, I’m not big on it either, but I can’t see how we’re going to take care of them after we take them out. Once we figure out _how_ we’re going to get them out of there.

It was the one thing none of them had any good ideas about how to pull off. They had any number of ideas of how to take over the camp, everything from fiendfyre to infiltration to somehow talking the Order to join them and put them under siege.

And once they got them out, they’d have to nurse them back to health. At least healthy enough to travel. In a way, it had been lucky that Adwr had been caught. Now they knew what to do without having to find a healer they could trust. The one hitch in the plan was to get them out.

And suddenly Tonks understand Windsor’s insistence that they ward the house first. Yes, it was good sense to get the safe house ready before they start the move, but there was another layer to it.

Every day they had to spend warding the house was a day that had time to think how they were going to pull it off.

Pansy was taking a much-needed smoke break when they'd called the meeting while everyone gave their brains a rest from planning. She was sitting in the family garden, her grandmother's pride and joy, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather when Tonks walked by humming a tune Pansy didn't know. Caught up in whatever she was thinking about, she hadn't noticed Pansy until she called out her name.

"Oh, hey." She joined Pansy in sitting underneath a nice, shady apple tree. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to.

Pansy offered Tonks a cigarette, lighting it when Tonks took it gratefully.

"Doing alright?"

Pansy sighed. "I'm holding up."

Tonks barked out a short, mirthful laugh.

"I know the feeling." She rang her hands through her hair and for a moment, Pansy thought she was stressed enough she might start tugging to it. "I just dont know how we can move them all out. We might almost be better off just leaving them there for all the damage we'll do trying to help them. I suppose we could bring in a healer, but where..."

Tonks continued her spiel, but Pansy had stopped listening. He memory had wandered back to her last year and an idea occurred.

“Tonks?” She asked, interrupting Tonks mid-stream. “How many people can you get through a vanishing cabinet?”

Tonks shrugged. “I don’t know. Quite a lot, I think. I heard that they used them a lot in the first war as escape routes.”

She thought about it for a moment. “Actually, isn’t that how the Death Munchers got into Hogwarts last year.

“That’s your plan, isn't it?” She asked, catching on to Pansy’s meaning. “You want to get a vanishing cabinet to get between the manor and the camp?”

“Well, yeah.” Pansy said.

“I don’t suppose you have a vanishing cabinet lying around, do you?”

“No.” Pansy repressed the cringe the question warranted. “But I do know where we can get one.”

“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Pansy whispered. Tonks just started at her, “What? _What?_ ”

They were lurking at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, sharing one set of omnioculars between them as they watched the castle in the distance.

It was just the two of them. The rest of the crowd were back at the manor, still hard at work at making it safe and equipped for the prisoners they hope would soon be occupying the many unused rooms.

There had been some debate among the lot of them over how many-and who-should go with them, but it hadn’t lasted long. The mission was dangerous enough without adding more people to it.

“I can’t see any other way in,” Tonks said, looking through the omnioculars at the doors of the castle in the distance.

She’d heard from Sirius about how Harry had snuck into Hogsmeade through the castle, but she’d be damned if she could remember how he’d done it. And obviously there was no way to ask him now, wherever he was. That left going through the front door.

The pair of them disillusioned themselves and crept through the grounds between them and the castle. The sun was low in the sky and getting lower, but it wasn’t sunset. It had been their first instinct to go at night, as was their typical MO, until Bond pointed out that it would be harder for to slip in unseen.

They skulked outside by the steps, crouched down until the Slytherin quidditch team came. They followed behind, far enough away that they wouldn’t get caught, but close enough that they wouldn’t be left out.

“You lose,” Pansy whispered in her hear, her hot breath making a delightful shiver go down Tonks spine. She’d bet the girl a galleon that there were “definitely portraits in the Great Hall, I swear to Merlin.”

Tonks glanced down the hall. None of the students had heard them.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she grumbled back. “I’ll get you when we get back. Aren’t you rich enough already?”

They made their way up down the hall and up the steps. Tonks had a long career of sneaking around the castle. _And_ she had done it all with out the help of some rubbish map, thank you very much.

Some skills never die and aside from one narrow miss with the Bloody Baron and one portrait doing a double take, they made it to the seventh floor.

“So this is it?” Tonks asked, looking over to the slight shimmer that was Pansy Parkinson. She remembered the corridor, for the tapestry of dancing trolls if nothing else. But she’d never even heard of the Room of Requirement before Sirius told her about Dumbledore’s Army two years ago.

“This is it.”

“How do we get in?”

“We concentrate on what we want-”

“-The vanishing cabinet-”

“And hope that it’s still there.”

It had been a fifty-fifty chance, by Tonks’ reckoning. Leaving it in would be a serious security risk. But it might have fallen by the wayside after the death of the only wizard Voldemort ever feared.

They might not have even been able to get in. The story the Order had gotten said that Harry had tried for months to figure out how to get into where Draco was working, but he could never manage it. Only Trelawney-possibly-had. And Draco had been able to keep Harry out…

“Can you get us in?” Tonks asked.

“I think so. Now that we know what’s supposed to be in there…

“I didn’t know, alright," she said, her voice pleading.

“I know,” Tonks said. “I know.”

She heard Pansy take a deep breath and watched as the shimmer that was her partner pace back and forth past the wall that supposedly housed the secret room.

First, there was nothing. Then, just like the wall behind the leaky cauldron, the wall began shift and great set of doors appeared in front of them.

Tonks let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.

“Is that it?” she whispered.

“I hope so. Ready?”

They looked around again to make sure no one was watching-not that it made a difference at this point-and entered.

Dropping their disillusionments as soon as the door was closed, Tonks scanned the room. It was filled with must have been everything lost from everywhere in ever. Bottles of wine, books in language she didn’t think existed any more, even a silver headband that looked at least a thousand years old.

“What did you ask it for?”

“I wanted to find where cabinet was hidden.”

“So why did it bring all this?” Tonks asked.

“I don’t know. But it must be here somewhere. I don’t think the room would have let us in if it wasn’t.”

“Then we better start looking. Wand out, yeah? Just in case.

They split up, wandering the stacks in search of the cabinet. Try as she might to be methodical in her search, the maze was just to complex and she often found herself turned around and walking in circles.

“Where’s a bloody ball of yarn when you need it?” she grumbled to herself.

“Pansy,” she called, “Mark the floor where you’ve looked. We don’t want to get lost.”

“Ok.”

More than once, Tonks had to stop herself from examining this thing or that. The place was a collector’s dream and when this was all over, she’d have to talk McGonagall into letting her poke around. It would only take a month or so.

“I think I found it!”

“Where?”

After a frustrating game of labyrinth Marco Polo, Tonks found Pansy standing before a three-sided wooden cabinet standing the middle of a clearing, surrounded buy piles of junk.

“Do think it’s really it?” Pansy asked.

“Must be. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” They shared a look. “Remember the plan?”

Infiltrating Death Eater controlled Hogwarts was the relatively easy part. Getting back out again was the tricky part.

They needed both cabinets. That meant one of them needed to stay behind to take the cabinet home.

And one of them had to go through it first to get the other one.

“I don’t know,” Pansy said dryly. “It was _so_ complicated. Remind me, when do I start shouting my lungs out?”

“Pansy…”

She huffed. “I go in, I shrink the cabinet if I can and I portkey out. Happy?”

“No.” _Never when you’re in danger._ “Do you have the mirror?

Pansy padded her back pocket.

Tonks put up her glamour charms, looked her up and down, then pulled her into a tight hug.

“Tonks…” Pansy gasped. She had the sudden urge to kiss the girl. Like she would never see her again if she left.

“Just be careful.”

Pansy smirked up at her. “No.”

Tonks shoved her. “Drinks are on you if you get hexed.”

“I’ll buy it with your galleon.”

And she was gone.

Pansy opened the door to the other side of the cabinet-however that worked- and immediately swore. The cabinet was supposed to let her out in Borgin and Burkes’. Being in the middle of Knockturn Alley was exactly her idea of a good time, but it was better than this.

She looked around, confirming as a pit opened up in her stomach what she already knew. She swore again.

She fumbled in her back pocket, her fingers trembling as she retrieved the mirror.

“Tonks,” she murmured into it, her voice so low even she barely heard it.

“What’s going on? Are you ok?” the auror’s voice was panicked.

“I’m fine.” _For the moment._

“Did you get to the other side.”

“Yeah.” Pansy gulped. “A bit of a problem there, actually. This isn’t Knockturn Alley.”

“What? Where are you?”

“Malfoy Manor.”

Tonks swore through the mirror.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Pansy said with a nod. She’d spent enough time exploring the manor when she and Draco played hide and seek.

“Shit! Ok, stick to the plan. Call me if you run into any trouble.”

“I will.”

“Promise me,” Tonks insisted.

“I promise.”

She stowed the mirror and turned back to the cabinet.

“Please work, please work, please work,” she pleaded as the cast _Reducio_.

Thankfully, mercifully, the cabinet shrunk to the size of a deck of cards. She scooped it up and put it in her purse. One problem solved.

She dug through the purse, finding the porkey-a thimble-in the inner pocket.

“Lalawethika,” she whispered. It was the code word, the activation key that would get her home. It had been decided as something so absurd as to be easy to remember, but not something that would be easily guessed. It was the surname of someone in a particularly memorable case, but Pansy hadn’t been able to get any of the details.

Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing. No matter how many times she tried, the portkey still refused to take her home.

She tried apparating to equal failure. Leave it to the Malfoys to have both an anti-apparation ward _and_ an anti-portkey ward.

Pansy to a few slow, deep breaths to calm herself. She could do this. This was an ancient manor. There were any number of secret passages off the grounds.

If she could only remember the way out.

If all else failed, she could always go to one of the guest rooms and find a fire place to floo out of. Or this living room.

She reached back for the mirror to call Tonks, but stopped. No. There was no need. Tonks couldn’t help her now, even if she wanted to. Calling her would just make her worry.

Or she’d insist that she come back through and leave the cabinet behind. And it was the only way it they were going to get the prisoners out of the that camp.

Pansy disillusioned herself and stepped out of the room and into the hall.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember where their old hiding places.

“The wine cellar,” she murmured to herself. There was a secret passage in the wine cellar. There was more than one, if she remember correctly, scattered through out the manor in places where it would be easy to get to in an emergency. But the wine cellar was the one she could get to.

Now to remember where it was. Pansy walked through the hallways of what amounted to a full underground floor of the Malfoy Manor, retracing the steps of her childhood self-control.

The Malfoys were traditional in every sense of the word, to the point that even her parents thought it was absurd (not that they would have dared ever say it out loud; the Malfoys were far to powerful to openly cross) and Pansy doubted that the place had changed much from the days of Merlin. Some of the rooms she checked were storage, yes. But most of them?

Most of them were still dungeons.

It didn’t help that she wasn’t sure which room or even which side of the house she’d come out in. If she had, could have figured out where to go from the lay out.

She tried the portkey again. Nothing. Same for apparation. So much for the idea that the wards were confined to that one specific room.

Pansy saw a light flickering around the corner. Slowing down, she walked towards it. As she got closer, she heard voices.

Pansy pressed her back against the wall when she reached the corner and listened hard. Whoever was taking, it was in casual tones. But they weren’t speaking loud enough of for her to make anything out.

She peaked her head around the corner. Three witches and wizards cast spells on one of the cells.

_If I can only get closer…_

She shook her head. That was a mission for another time. She needed to find the wine cellar. She turned around, just hoping there was another way around. If only Brownie was around to take her home.

The wine cellar was like everything else the Malfoys owned. Ostentatious and not nearly as impressive as they liked to pretend to be. Pansy’s first drink of alcohol after butterbeer had been from a uniquely vile bottle of wine from down here Draco had assured her was top of the line.

She crept through the wine racks, careful not to bump into any of them and privately glad that at least Tonks wasn’t here for this.

At the end of every row, she groped around the walls, searching for the entrance.

The secret passage was low magic. All of them were. As proud as all of the old pureblood families were, even they could imagine a scenario where they’d need to escape wandless. The secret passage would open up a tunnel she could take to forest well beyond the property and well beyond the wards. If she got only find the entrance.

She tried every wall, not trusting her memory, moving methodically through the rows. She was heading for the back when the door creaked open.

Her breath hitched and she dashed into one of the rows, crouching down as the figure entered. In the dark of the cellar, she couldn’t immediately identify who it was. But she’d recognize that gait anywhere.

Narcissa Malfoy.

Pansy’s silent prayer that she would just get something from the front and leave went unasnswered. The lady of the manor was on a mission of her own, browsing the selection lazily and without hurry.

Pansy held her breath. She was getting closer. She had to do something. Her only chance was to slip out before Narcissa got to her.

It was agonizing. Pansy stepped lightly, moving with step Narcissa made, hoping against hope that any sound she might make would be covered up.

She was at the edge of her row when Narcissa turned suddenly, skipping by her row and walking towards her.

Pansy inched back. She closed her eyes, in case the woman could feel her watching. She only opened them again when she felt Narcissa’s robes glide past her.

She stood statue still, watching as she retrieved whatever spirit she was after. Pansy scrunched her eye shut again and didn’t dare open them again until she heard the door close again. Even then, she still waited, breath held, looking around to make sure she was gone.

When she was finally certain it was safe, Pansy dashed out started pressing the wall wildly. Every touch that didn’t reveal a door deepened her panic. She promised Circe and Merlin and Morgana and anyone else who was listening anything they wanted if she could just get away.

She almost cried that when she found a seam in the wall. She pushed against it, using all her weight until the blasted thing finally gave and the door pushed open.

“Oh, thank you Circe,” she gasped, picking herself up off the floor and pushing the door closed behind her.

With only the faint glow of the tip of her wand to light the way, Pansy ran. As a child, she would have sworn that it took her ages and ages to get to the end of the tunnel, but that night she was sure cleared it in three minutes flat.

She didn’t even take a moment to catch her breath when the tunnel finally let out at the side of a hill.

“Lalawethika,” she repeated and in the blink of an eye, she was back at Parkinson Manor.

No sooner had she arrived than she was pulled into a tight embrace.

“What the bloody hell happened?” Tonks growled.

“Wards,” Pansy said, catching her breath. “I had to find another way out.”

She expected to be grilled or even shouted at, but Tonks just held her, leaving it as, “You should have called me.”

Pansy stood there awkwardly, wondering what to do for her hands. In the end, she hugged her back.

_God damn, bloody Tonks._

“We reckon we’re about ready,” Tonks said when she finally pulled back. “A few more finishing touches, a few more potions to buy. Nothing that can’t be taken care of tomorrow.”

“So when are we going in?”

“Tomorrow night. Or rather, the morning. After midnight. Hopefully we’ll catch them by surprise. The Twins are putting it on Potterwatch tonight.”

“This is our last night, then,” Pansy said.

“We’re going to relax. Have a few drinks, tell a few war stories. You should join us. I’ll buy you that drink I owe you.”

Tonks winked. Pansy shook her head. There wasn’t much appeal to her, being the odd witch odd. “I’ll leave that to you, I think. I’m going to get some sleep.”

Pansy’s heart went racing when Tonks hugged her again and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Have a good night, Pansy,” she said, tossling her hair and giving her a linger look before going off to join her friends.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t get in more trouble for that,” Windsor said.

“That’s ‘cause they never found out,” Hawlish said.

They’d been at it for well over three hours. The Awlishes arrived late, some time around the first hour. Her misgivings about them notwithstanding, Tonks, sitting off by herself, was glad to have them back. The six of them them, together again. The only ones missing were Robards and Jones. She’d be coming with Diggle in the morning, her owl had said. They hadn’t even asked Robbards. He was dealing with enough with it as it was.

“I’m calling it a night,” she said, standing up.

“Aw, come on,” said Adwr, sitting across from her next to Bond. “You’re not out already are you.”

“I’m just not feeling it.” As gung ho as she had been to just sit and drink, her heart wasn't in it. She wasn't the auror she had been with them and pretending otherwise wasn't going to change things.

She walked by Pansy room on the way to her own right next door, forcing herself not to check on her.

She peeled off her clothes, climbing into bed wondering what she felt so nervous about. The plan was good. They would be able to get in and thanks to Pansy, they’d be able to get everybody out.

And yet how how many of their plans, theirs and the Orders had gone wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My outline process is, I believe, very thorough. I know what characters are in each chapter and the time span, as well as any important details I want to be sure to include. In the case of this story, I even know what's going on with the Trio at the equivalent time.
> 
> That doesn't mean there isn't room for discovery. They section about steal the Vanishing Cabinet wasn't in the outline and was included until I realized they needed a way out of the camp.
> 
> I debated how much I wanted to introduce the rest of the aurors, but it kept bringing the narrative to a hault. So Pansy will get better acquainted with them after the fallout from the next chapter.
> 
> In the realm of references, "I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say." was uttered by Rose in Doctor Who and "God bless you for a kind woman" is a take off a line in one of the Children of Chaos books. Death Munchers is definitely not mine, but I couldn't begin to tell you where it came from originally.
> 
> Just as a heads up, they're may be another delay as I'm traveling again next week. I hope not. It'd be a shame to miss Harry's birthday.
> 
> Only around 10 more chapters left to go. Thanks for reading!


	17. Liberation

Pansy met the two new members of their team when she went down for breakfast and found the rest of them already there. John Dawlish, crew cut and square jawed, looked like he walked off one of the covers of the novels Tonks oh so loved to tease her about. Maybe it was because Tonks had said so much against him or maybe it was because her tastes had changed of late, but while once upon a time Pansy would have been giggling over impure thoughts about the man, she found him painfully dull.

His partner, Hawkes Hawlish, reminded her of Stubby Boardman, with stringy, straggly black hair and a scruffy beard. He had the look of someone who knew his way around nasty curses.

“This is her?” he asked Tonks.

“That’s her.”

Hawlish jumped up and held out his hand. “Please. Let me shake the hand of the witch who sucker punched Bellatrix LeStrange. I’ll pay you a galleon to see the memory of that one.”

Snorting, Pansy shook his hand and pushed herself a place between Tonks and Adwr. She figured she deserved it, given what they were about to do.

They were finishing up the last of their breakfast when the final two of their party arrived. Jones she’d met, looking as eager as ever. She would be too, living with muggles. She shook herself. She still had a hard time not thinking like that.

Diggle-she didn’t catch his first name-had the look of some of the older wizards she’d seen at the world cup. The ones who tried and failed to blend in with muggle society. He wore an over-sized frock coat and an equally large, floppy top hat and looked entirely silly.

But behind that and his natural exuberance, there was something behind his eyes that told her he had seen more than he wanted to.

 _Someone to talk to_ , Pansy thought, realizing that, aside from Moody, she’d never talked to anyone who’d survived the Light side of the first war. Even before the war. He might be able to give her some advice.

But there wasn’t time. They didn’t even take the time to do a proper introduction. As soon as they came in, they were handed a hastily assembled plate and they were under way

“And then if-once-we've secured the camp, we'll start the evacuation."

The nine of them sat around the dining table, going over the plan one last time, now that all of them were there, before they went to war. It was going to be a long wait 'til night.

  
  


“That’s it?” Pansy asked, just to be able to say something. The stillness and the silence of the night was driving her batty already. Tonks just nodded.

They had landed far off in the distance from the camp, enough that they shouldn’t trigger any of the wards.

“After me,” Bond said.

They marched behind her one by one. Pansy kept one hand on the shoulder of Tonks marching in front of her and her wand to the left. It was a technique they’d taught her in the preparation for the raid.

They’d walked the length of at least three quidditch pitches when Bond held up her hand.

“Stop.”

She put on a pair of goggles, looking a bit silly with her eye patch underneath.

“What are you seeing?” Windsor asked.

“Nothing unexpected, thank Merlin. Anti-apparation. Courtesy of Tonks, I take it. Anti-portkey, the unplottable charm. Caterwauling charm, too. That one’s going to be our top priority.”

“Can you get them down?”

The witch shot her partner a look, as if to say, “Don’t be a prat.”

“Just hang on a tic,” she said.

“Pity we don’t have Bill,” Tonks whispered. “He’s a curse breaker.”

Pansy watched in fascination as Bond, with the help of whatever those goggles did, brought down the wards one by one, signaling off each success with a thumbs up.

“And they’re down. Let’s go." They moved back into formation, splitting off into two teams.

“This could get nasty real fast, so apparate if you have to,” Windsor said. “Remember, they’re important but you can’t save them if your dead.”

“And the first one hexed buys drinks,” Adwr said, forcing a grin. It was a weak joke, but it was something.

As Pansy’s line went left, she’d never felt more exposed. It was the first night mission in a long time that she hadn’t been cloaked under a disillusionment charm. It would have been impossible. Too easy to get hit by a stray spell.

The camp was dead quiet, to the point that even the bugs that normally would have been announcing themselves to the world seemed to have gone to ground. Pansy didn’t blame them.

Their target was a great building in the center of the camp. It was the headquarters of the camp, according to Adwr. Tonks was taking point on this one, with Pansy behind her, Jones-Hestia, as she’d been told to call her-behind _her_ and Cadwaldr taking up the rear. The idea, Tonks said, was to have all sides covered. If anyone of them saw anything, they were to try to stun them first if they could, or take them out if they couldn’t.

Pansy shivered as they walked, even in what had been Adwr’s overcoat. She’d offered it back to him, asking him if he’d help her make one too. A good compromise, she thought, between good manners and good sense.

But Adwr had refused. Given his promise to Tonks to be support only, he was planning on doing as little magic as possible. Tonks was in charge of keeping himself shielded when he couldn’t.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder.

“Two guards,” Hestia hissed in her ear. “To the right.”

The whole party stopped, scanning the grounds until they spotted them. A pair of guards were off in the distance, coming out of one of the cabins. They hadn’t noticed them yet.

“ _Stupefy_.” The combined spells of Tonks and Jones took them out before they had time to turn around.

“This way,” Tonks ordered, turning them from their path and leading them to the fallen guards.

“What about the others?” Pansy whispered.

“They’ll be alright.” She said it with more confidence than Pansy thought she felt. “We need to make sure they’re not around to tell anyone about us. And that they don’t get seen.”

Once they reached the guards, Tonks had Adwr keep look out while Pansy and Hestia dragged them into the cabin they’d just come out off.

“ _Lumos_.” Several pairs of eye were on them.

“It’s alright,” Tonks said quickly, holding up her hands. “We’re here to get you out of here.”

“I recognize that voice,” said someone. An older man, looking even worse that Adwr had, stepped forward into the faint glow of the light.

“McGregor?” Tonks said. “Is that you?”

“So you came back. You shouldn’t have.” There was a rebuke in voice, but Tonks continued on as if she hadn’t noticed it.

“Can you help us?”

“Can you really get us out?” McGregor looked around. “Get the guards hidden. Put them the empty beds.”

Turning back to Tonks, he said, “We can’t-and won’t fight-but we’ll keep quiet for you.”

“What do you mean you “won’t” fight?” Pansy snapped.

Tonks held up her hand.

“I made things worse again, didn’t I?”

“Well...I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later. And you did come back. But I don’t see how four of you are going to take out all of the guards.”

“There’s a few more of us.” Shouting and spell light filtered through the windows. “And that’s them. Gotta go. Adwr, stay here.”

They followed the sounds of battle, stunning anyone they passed on the way. They could sort through them later. The others were holed up behind a hastily conjured wall, fighting a group of guards flinging spells from the windows and doors of the headquarters.

“Bloody hell, not again!” Tonks motioned for them to follow and she led them around the back of the cabin. There were windows and even a door, but it wasn’t manned. All the attention was on the others fighting in the front.

She did a double take when she saw that Adwr was following.

“Damn it, I told you to stay behind.”

“Yeah, but you knew I wasn’t going to. And we don’t have time to argue. So let’s get in their and take them out.”

“Fine, but you’re still taking the rear. Jones move to the front behind me. You know what to do, don’t you. Pansy, start on your left foot and run to near leftt corner and don’t stop casting until they’re all down. Got it? Good. On three.”

They hit three and burst into the room. So focused on the front assault, by the time the guards could react, they were already down.

“Hit the deck,” Tonks ordered. They all dropped to the ground as she crawled to the window. She cast _Sonorous_ on herself and conjured a white flag. Waving it in front of the window, she shouted, “We surrender!”

Windsors team joined them a moment later and Pansy started breathing again.

“That was a lot easier than I thought it would be.” She’d said it to herself, only distantly aware she’d even said it out loud.

“Yeah, we’re not done yet.” Dawlish said. “More will be on their way.”

And already, Tonks and Windsor were preparing for the second wave.

“Bond,” Tonks said, “start getting some shields up. Adwr, you can help her, but let her do the heavy lifting. Hestia, make sure that lot doesn’t wake up. Actually, tie them up and snap their wands.”

She hardly needed to say anything though and Pansy thought she was saying it to keep herself focused, because the others were already in motion, setting up for the next strike. The Awlishes were dashing between the walls, shrinking the windows and securing the doors.

“Make sure to leave a way out,” Tonks said. “I don’t want to be trapped in here.”

“What can I do?” Pansy asked.

“You’re with Diggle. Get ready to start firing.”

Diggle was by one of the windows at the front, keeping carefully out of view as he practiced shooting sparks from his wand.”

“Dedalus Diggle,” he said, holding out his hand. “We weren’t formally introduced. Delighted to meet you.”

“Pansy Parkinson,” she said, taking his hand. She’d had the distinct impression she’d seen him before. Certainly he was memorable in that ridiculous hat.

“Glad to see the younger crowd fighting back.”

“Yeah, well,” Pansy said, “they invaded my home and kidnapped my family.”

“Save the pleasantries for later,” barked Windsor. “Here they come.”

Pansy found an empty window and peeked through the small hole the Awlishes had left to fight through. A group of guards was walking quickly in their direction. How many there were, she couldn’t tell in the gloom of the night. But there were a lot.

“First duel?” Diggle asked her from the other side of the door.

“No,” Pansy answered. “First one this big.”

“Want a little advice from an old soldier?”

Pansy glanced at Tonks in her own spot, who just shrugged.

“Sure.”

“Ignore what anyone else says, there’s no such thing as overkill.”

Carefully aiming through his own little hole, Diggle muttered a spell. Sparks flew from the end of his wand. But not the harmless, colorful sparks every first year learned by the end of the first week at Hogwarts. No, these were bright, managing to _look_ sharp as they grew and grew until by the time the reached the line of guards they were full blown fire works The explosion they caused blew a hole in the line coming through them. Pansy and the aurors, those of them who saw what happened cheered.

“My specialty.”

“I don’t think they liked that much,” Tonks said. “Here they come.”

The guards who were still standing ran towards the headquarters.

“This side too,” Jones said from behind them.

“Every side,” said Bond. "We’re being surrounded. Let’s hope to Merlin those shields hold.”

Pansy cast every offensive spell she’d ever learn. Some of them even got through. But for every one she hit, a dozen more bounced off their shields.

“We need a new plan,” Tonks said. "They’re going to wear us out.”

Duels weren’t meant to last long. Back in her training, Tonks had told her that duels on the radio shows that lasted for hours didn’t really happen. Most duels lasted less than a minute and anything more than three was risking magical exhaustion. More of her training had been focused on building up her stamina than teaching her new spells.

And she had been right. Already she was feeling the strain. The rest of them were two. The shields, strong enough to bounce off all but a certain green spell, was starting to let things through. Jones had to duck a _Bombarda_ and Dawlish narrowly missed get hit with a sickly blue curse.

“Pull back,” Tonks shouted. “Bond, Adwr! Keep those shields up!”

No sooner has the words left her lips, then Adwr shouted, "Tonks!"  
  
It all unfolded before Pansy's eyes vividly, as if time as somehow slowed down to a painful crawl. A curse, crimson red, punched a hole through the wall. It was heading straight for Tonks. Pansy heard herself shout for her, but she was frozen in place. She couldn't cast a spell to block it. She couldn't moved to save her.

Adwr, moving with a speed she wouldn't have believed after seeing him roll around in a wheel chair, barely able to walked, shoved Tonks out of the way. The spell clipped him in the side and he fell to the ground. He was already bleeding heavily.

The rest of them sank to the ground, as Tonks shouted _Confringo._ The force of the blasting spell was enough to shake the cabin.

"What the fuck, Tonks!" shouted Hawlish.

Pansy found herself able to move and ran to his Adwr's side, where Tonks was already patching him up.

"Bloody fucking idiot, didn't I tell you to stay behind?! There, you'll hold. Stay put." She turned to Windsor, who was helping Bond reinforce the shields.

“Any good ideas, Ed?” she asked.

“Nothing that doesn’t involve punching a whole through their line or apparating out of here.”

Tonks swore.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“Ok, what about this. We do apparate out of here. But not home. We apparate behind their line.”

“That could work, but not for long. They’re going to notice when we stop fight from here.”

“Then some of us stay behind,” Adwr said.

“No,” Tonks said.

“Tonks.”

“No, I said.”

“Damn it, Tonks. I'll be no good to you out there. And can anyone keep those shields up better than me? You think Windsor can do it? No offense.”

“None taken," Windsor mutter. "And he’s right, Tonks.”

“Damn it, alright! Someone stay with him.”

“I’ll do it,” Bond volunteered immediately.

“You’ll have to make it look good,” Tonks said. “They need to think we’re all still here. The rest of you are with me. We’ll apparate 20 yards behind the back line. We’ll do it by sides. North, south, east, then west. Awlishes, you’re on shields. Windsor and Jones, watch our back. Diggle, do _not_ be shy with your shooting stars. We need to be fast. Pansy, stay with me. Everybody, keep yourselves alive. We all go through.”

Tonks took Pansy’s hand and apparate with her. They’d have seconds tops.

Immediately, the Awlishes got their shields up. Not as good as Adwr would have made, but enough for their purposes.

True to her command, they hit them hard and fast. Diggle’s stars, oft bitched about by McGonagall, we’re devastating offensively. Hawlish was at his best, levitating one guards with his wand and bashing the one next to him. Even Pansy was using a spell she’d never heard of to cut down the people in front of her.

They had the upper hand, but the guards rallied quickly, turning away from their headquarters. Spells were coming from all directions inside the cabin. Bond and Adwr must be running, because it looked like they had at triple the two that were actually in there. The guards were force to split their numbers.

Someone called for reinforcements and they were at risk of being routed again.

“Next position!” Tonks called.

“Wait!” cried Dawlish. He was pointing up at the now bright evening sky.

They looked up at the dirty great dragon made of blue fire that filled the air.

“What. The. Bloody hell. Is _that_?” Tonks asked. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

The rounded on the others. “Have any of you ever seen anything like that?”

“Can we save the magical theory later?” Pansy snapped, nearly shrieking. “Apparently we have a dragon to slay.”

“Right.” Raising her wand towards the dragon that easily had three tonnes on her, Tonks said, “Alright you tossers, anyone who doesn’t want to be Kentucky Fried Auror, hit that fucking dragon with your strongest freezing charm.

“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue,” Dawlish said.

“Dawlish, I swear to fucking Merlin-”

He shoved a finger to the sky. “Look!”

And sure enough, the dragon, somehow breathing fire from itself, passed them by entirely.

“It’s going for the guards.”

And sure enough, the guards were left scrambling as the dragon unleashed jets of white flame from it’s own firey mouth.

Pansy should run. She should take advantage chaos to take out a few of the guards or to help the prisoner or even just to help Tonks. Instead she stayed frozen.

That kind of magic was possible, summoning fire dragons. She remembered it from perhaps the only day after the first that she’d managed to focus and stay awake in History of Magic.

She scanned the sky. None of their team had summoned it. None of them had the power to not kill themselves in the process. And it was clearly a magic dragon and not a living creature. So somebody must be controlling it.

Pansy heart beat quickened as her eyes found what they were looking for. Her plan had worked. Bless the Weasley twins, they’d sent out the call on their show and someone had answered. There. Far off in the distance. She barely saw them, only catching a glimpse of them in the distance.

She ran, but only got a few steps before stopping. She looked back. She couldn’t abandon the others, even if they had-or rather the dragon-had them on the run.

Tonks. She’d know what to do.

There was something wrong with her. That was it. Something had snapped in her when Adwr took the curse for her and now she was completely and utterly mad. Why else did she feel almost giddy at being in the heat of the battle? That they were winning helped, but even if they were losing, Tonks would have felt the same. It was if it were a game and each guard, each person who'd starved and who knew w hat else to each of these people simply for having the wrong parents, was the winning shot.

But the part that scared her most, to the extent that she was aware of it in the moment, was how little she cared what happened to them. She could have killed each and every last one of them and only the face of Mad-Eye Moody kept her from seeing if she could cast an Unforgivable.

She was walking, not running, after a guard. He hadn't seen her, running off in the direction of the others. He fell, stunned, smashing his head on the ground. This, Tonks thought, was real power. The same power behind her blasting curse

"Tonks!" Pansy cried, snapping her back to reality.

"Pansy! Are you ok?" In the heat of the battle, she'd lost track of the girl.

"Someone's controlling that dragon." Putting her arm around her, Pansy turned her around.

“You see them?” Pansy pointed off beyond the far end of the camp. Tonks had to squint and even then, in the dark of the night, she couldn't really see. She was about to tell Pansy she thought it was a trick of the light, when the glare off the dragon hit them just right.

There were two of them, one tall and thin and the other shorter and stockier. The tall one seemed to be directing the dragon.

“...The hell?” Tonks murmured.

“What should we do?” Pansy asked.

Tonks shook herself back to reality.

“Nothing. Whoever they are their on our side and we’ve still got to finish this.”

They ran back to join the others. The aid the dragon had given them was two-fold. It took out the guards who were quick enough to dodge and the ones who were were distracted and easily disarmed. They worked as a team, Tonks and Pansy. Pansy stunned them and Tonks banished them, moving them out of the way of the fire.

It might not even have been necessary. The dragon-or rather the wizard controlling-had extraordinarily command over it, to the point Tonks wondered if it wasn’t some super advanced form of fiendfyre. Most wizards who tried it ended up burning alive in their own flame. But the dragon never touched any of the cabins, or the witches and wizards trying to liberate the camp are of any of the countless flammable things Tonks could name just off hand. It was the kind of raw power that only existed in legends.

They stunned all they could, but the tide had turned. Those of the guards who were still left standing were fleeing, apparating now that they new the wards were down.

“Get as many of those fuckers as you can!” someone shouted. “Don’t let them get away.”

Pansy lost track of how many stunning spells she cast but by the time she was done, aside from the few who escaped, every guard was dead or down.

“We’ve got to decide to what to do with this lot, Hawlish said, kicking one of the stunned ones for good measure.. “I say we wipe their memories and leave them here. Let the Fates decide what happens to them.”

“We should take a few of them back with us," Windsor said. “See if we can’t get a little bit of information from them.

“Fucking hell!” Adwr shouted from the cabin.

“What?” Tonks asked, as he stormed out of the cabin, followed close behind by Bond, a fist of parchment in his hand.

Ignoring them, Adwr pushed Tonks and Windsor, his wand pointed at one of the prisoners and his eyes flaring with rage.

“You sick sons of bitches.” He lifted his wand. “ _Avada_ -”

Bond disarmed him just in time.

“What the hell!”

“They…” he trailed off, glancing towards Pansy. “Later. But whatever we do with them is too good.”

“Adwr, what-”

“ _Later_ ,” he insisted.

They stunned them, though Adwr kept looking murderously at them. They would be taken to Parkinson manor, stored still stunned in one of the spare rooms in the basement until they could get some information or a more permanent solution could be decided.

“I think we’re going to have to take the cabinet to cabins one by one,” Tonks said. “Some of these people won’t be able to move.”

“Yeah, and it’ll get us time to get them all settled in,” Windsor agreed.

The two wizards, whoever they were, were gone by the time they left the headquarters.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Windsor announced, his magicked voice reverberate through the camp. “This camp is now under our command. You will be moved to a new, safe, location shortly. Please remain where you are. If someone in your cabin needs immediate medical attention, have someone stand outside your cabin door and we'll come to help.”

The flaw in the plan, of course, was that soon every cabin had someone standing outside of the door. There was no help for it but to take each one of them in turn.

Bond and Windsor went back in first to be on hand when the refugees started arriving. The Awlishes did the heavy lifting, leaving the rest of them to usher the ones who could walk in and to keep track of the cabins. It took longer than Pansy would have suspected, moving all of them. Most of them needed help walking. More than a few needed to be carried. But the challenging part came from the people who didn’t want to go. The ones who thought that this was all some Death Eater trick.

“Look!” Hawlish snapped. Dawlish placed a hand on his partners shoulder, stopping him before it turned into a real shouting match.

“We can’t force you to come with us,” his said to the scared old witch arguing with them. “But you’ll be left alone out here if you don’t. Please, come with us. I swear on my magic we won’t harm you.”

That was enough to get most of the ones who were suspicious to come along and the ones who still resisted came around either when their friends talked them into it or when it became apparent that they really were going to leave them behind.

Tonks was in an unusually cheery mood, something Pansy hadn’t seen for awhile.

“You’re happy.”

“Happy to have finally accomplished something,” Tonks said. They’d apparated back to the manor, taking the vanishing cabinet with them. The rest of their little rebel alliance was busy to attending to the needs of their new house guests.

They’d converted one of the ball rooms into a makeshift hospital wing, expanding the room considerably and adding all manor of beds and end tables. Now there was enough room for them all to lay comfortably and they were putting up the final touches on some shoji screens they’d found in Scarlett’s bedroom and duplicated.

“Ever fancy being a healer?” Tonks asked.

The polite thing to do would be to help their friends, but they were taking a moment to lean against the wall and just breathe.

“Never thought about it.”

“Well, this is your chance to try.” Tonks said. "Come, we'd better help them."

Pansy wandered the manor, to restless to sleep. Most of the rest of them were in bed, secure in the knowledge of a hard won fight and that their refugees were safe for the moment.

It had been a long time since she’d walked her home late at night and, lost in her thoughts, her feet had taken her unawares down to the hospital wing. It was nearly dawn and everyone should still be asleep after the night they’d had, and yet there was a light on in the room and there were voices coming through the door.

 _They can’t have followed us. Could they_. Pansy was about to charge, but when she reached her wand it wasn’t there. Because of course it wasn’t. Even she didn’t carry her wand with her in her bathrobe.

She cracked the door open, just enough to see if any of the Death Eaters had shown up.

Adwr was sitting there, back in his wheel chair. He’d avoided it like the plague, but the strain exacerbated by the curse must have been put him back in it. He had rolled himself over to one of the children’s bed. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but with a book in his hand and laughing boy beside him, she didn’t have to be World-renown auror Morgana McAwber to see what was going on.

Adwr demonstrated why _he_ was an auror when his eyes passed over the door and he caught her watching. He waved her over.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked her when she joined them. “Neither could we. I was reading the kid here Babbity Rabbity."

“But.” he snapped the book shut, “that’s it.”

“Aw! Can’t you read me another?” The looked up at them with two, big pleading eyes and Pansy would have given him all of her worldly expressions and all of the Parkinson’s vault if he’d asked her. But Adwr was made of sterner stuff than she was.

Chuckling to himself, Adwr said, “There’s only five stories in this book. You wouldn’t want me to run through everything tonight.”

Tousling the boy’s hair, he said, “I’ll read you another one tomorrow. I promise. Pansy, you want to wheel me out?”

“Where to?” she asked.

“What do you say we go get a snack? This is hungry work.”

It also been a long time since she’d raided the kitchen for a midnight snack, but old habits died hard and while Adwr was rummaging through the ice box, Pansy produced a handful of chocolate frogs from her secret stash.

“Good thinking, bach,” he said, rolling over to the kitchen island, a bottle Old Ogden’s Fire Whiskey in hand. “That’ll pair nice.”

Rolling her eyes, Pansy summoned a pair of glasses.

“Huh?” He feigned bemusement as he looked between the bottle and the glasses. “I suppose you _don’t_ have to drink it out of the bottle after all.”

He poured out two glasses and passed one to her. The clinked their glasses, but he stopped her just as hers was reaching her lips.

“Wait. Have you ever had fire whiskey?” When she shook her head, he said, “You might want to take it slow then. That stuff is...efficient.”

As if to prove his point, he chugged his down in one go.

“Take your own advice.”

Pansy looked him up and down. He was still the same ridiculous man she’d thought he was when they met. And yet he’d somehow survived the camp. He’d forced himself back to health and still shaky, he’d gone back and helped rescued the others. And he’d kept on fighting after taking hex meant for Tonks. And injury he wouldn't even have if he hadn't given up his jacket to protect her. Seeing him reading a bedtime story to that little boy was the final straw for Pansy. She should hate him, she _wanted_ to hate him. After all, he was the reason Tonks would never look twice at her.

But he was a good man. And he made Tonks happy.

Pansy steeled herself. She had to say it.

“Look, just take care of Tonks.”

Adwr stopped mid drink.

“Eh?”

“You and Tonks. It’s obvious how she feels about you. She’s...special. And I don’t want to see her hurt. So promise me you’ll take care of her.”

Pansy’s heart pounded as Adwr blinked. He set down the glass.

“I think one of us is confused. And I think it’s me.

“Pansy, Tonks and I aren’t in love.”

“But...I see the way you are together. You’re always laughing and the way she hangs off you….”

“Yeah,” Adwr said. “Because we’re best mates. But Tonks isn’t like that. She fancies birds.”

The words echoed through Pansy’s mind, drowning out any other thoughts. _Tonks isn’t like that. She fancies birds._

“Are you sure?” Hope crept into her voice.

“Definitely. I’m not saying I haven’t seen her dance with a bloke, but she only goes home with women.”

Adwr eyes went wide and his mouth twisted into a gleeful grin.

“What brought this on?” He asked, clearly already knowing the answer.

Pansy shifted in her seat.

“You fancy Tonks, don’t you?” he asked.

_I adore everything about her!_

“A bit,” she admitted. Screwing up her courage a second time, she asked, “do you think I have a chance?”

“If your asking if I think Tonks might fall for a clever, brave and dark-haired beauty?” He looked her up and down, grinning again. “Yeah, I think you’ve got a shot.

"Can I tell her?”

“No!” Pansy had just gone from thinking she had to move to finding out, from Tonks' best friend no less, that Tonks might fall for her. She need to regroup.

“Just a hint!” Adwr teased.

“Behave or I’ll hex you.” She stuck her tongue out at him. She liked Adwr much better when Tonks wasn’t in love with him.

“You’re no fun. Guess I’ll just have to practice my shields.”

Adwr kept talking, but Pansy never heard what. Whatever it was, it was probably stupid.

She practically floated back up to her room and into her bed, more content than she had been in a _long_ time.

Knowing that Tonks fancied witches? Knowing that she and Adwr weren’t together? Knowing that she had a chance? As aggravating as he was going to be, having an inside man on her side.

She’d never felt so _liberated_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you didn't think I'd forgotten about Tonks being the current Master of the Elder Wand. ;) Don't worry. This is a slow burn in a whole host of ways, but things are falling into place.
> 
> I debated at the end how Pansy should react in this battle when Adwr gets hit. In one version, she springs into action immediately. Obviously I decided against. This is her first major battle. It wouldn't make sense for her to me a super solider yet. She needs some more experience.
> 
> I used some of the basic techniques of SWAT here, simplified for my purposes. I admit, I didn't give much consideration to how magic would effect, so someone cleverer than I am will probably think of something I missed.
> 
> Because I am occasionally required to make references that aren't pulp culture, Adwr and Bond's defense of the cabin was inspired by the story of Don Alejo Garza Tamez, a 77 year old man who single-handedly defended his farm from a gang. And while he died in the process, he took several people out with them and they had to destroy the farm house to stop him.
> 
> I actually thought I had managed to avoid pop culture references for a change, but alas, a few snuck in. I believe "our little rebel alliance" comes from The Big Bang Theory. Diggle's "natural exuberance" is a line from the song "Urban Spaceman", which fits the character as I envision him. The balance between good manners and good sense comes from the book, "Parsifal's Page", by Gerald Morris (These two are obscure, even for me).
> 
> On the subject of Diggle, I admit I hadn't ever given him much thought until I started writing this story and decided to include Hestia (I'll explain more about that at a later time). He's meant to be silly, but Dumbledore doesn't invite useless people into the Order. So he must have been good for something. He's known (barely) for shooting stars to celebrate the end of the first war over Kent (possibly reported on by Tonks' dad), bowing to Harry once or twice and guarding the Dursleys. There's really only one thing on that list that merits expansion.
> 
> As note of personal achievement, this chapter marks 400 pages on my personal document! Thank you all for reading and a double thanks to my commenters!


	18. The Christmas Truce

Pansy hummed brightly to herself as she walked, practically skipping through the streets of London. Under heavy glamour, she was enjoying her day off.

With nine of them now living in the manor, she and Tonks were no longer responsible for everything. Going off a list drawn up by Dawlish and Windsor, they rotated through shifts. Right now they’re duties only included tending to their patients and guarding the prisoners, but as soon as they were well enough to that they didn’t all need around the clock care, they’d start going back on raids again.

It was a snowy day, just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and Pansy was on a mission. Buy the perfect Christmas present for Tonks. And the others, of course. But mostly, Tonks.

She’d grilled Adwr for information before she left, enduring his teasing. Though buying her lingerie and having her modeling for her wasn’t a bad idea. Another downside to having the crowd around. Tonks was far more careful about keeping covered up. Pansy pouted every time Tonks came out of the shower fully dressed, rather than her knickers or just a towel. Why oh why hadn’t she appreciated it while she could?

Adwr had been able to give her ideas, though. A lot of them. Almost too many, in fact, and nothing jumped out at her as the _right_ choice. And so her plan was to enjoy a day out in London doing a bit of shopping. Whether in the wizarding world or the muggle one, she would find the perfect gift for her lady love, giving her the perfect opening for a confession and, hopefully, all the oh so pleasurable things that came with it.

She started out in the alley. But finding a present for Tonks proved even harder than she expected. The others were easy. A new coat for Adwr, much nicer than the one he’d given her. She’d seen Dawlish strutting around in his trench coat and thought he should have a chance to compete. Bond got a number of defense Wheezes from the Weasley twins. It was a reference to a muggle “movey” series, Tonks said the woman liked. For Dedalus she got a new hat and Hestia got a new quidditch jersey for the Holyhead Harpies. She got bottles of fire whiskey for each of the Awlishes and she got tapestry for Windsor so he could make a magical family tree.

Honestly, it ended up easier than she’d been expecting to get presents for people she’d only just met. But nothing for Tonks. Jewelry? Too eager and besides, she rarely wore any that wasn’t pierced into her flesh. Chocolates? Not personal enough. Books? Too boring. CDs, a sort of blasted muggle device? She wouldn’t know where to begin to look for them. And even if they could rig up a muggle device to play them, it would also mean she would have to listen to them. She did love Tonks, but that didn’t exactly extend to her taste in music.

She was ready to tear out her hair by the time she left the forty second shop that didn’t have anything remotely suitable. _Maybe I’ll just strip down, slap a bow on my forehead_ _and give her_ myself _as a present_ , she grumbled to herself.

As delicious as that idea was, that wasn’t going to happen. Not yet anyways.

She was considering turning to the muggle world to look-maybe it would have to be those bloody CDs after all-when she wandered into a beauty shop on a whim. It wasn’t Tonks’ thing, pampering herself, but it was Christmas after all, and the worst that could happen was that she didn’t find anything.

She found it almost right away. The minute she stepped in, the most luxurious scents engulfed her and she followed her nose over to a shelf of perfume.

She was met with a cacophony of scents as bottles of every shape and size sprayed any manner of perfumes, the magic of the store keeping them separate enough to be distinct. This one was vanilla, this one was chocolate. One peaches, another was strawberry. Pansy very nearly bought that one and another that smelled of pansies.

_That’ll put a little hint into her mind._

But as she reached for a card to show clerk, when a much better choice caught her eye. _Eau Du Chameleon_ , the scent was called and it truly was something special. Not limited to one scent, it instead promised to match the wearer to the perfect scent based on their mood, their clothing and their environment.

Would it work? Pansy wasn’t sure. But there seemed to be fewer and fewer limits to magic these days and the idea was just to perfect. So she grabbed the card and went to the front to get a bottle.

She took the rest of the day to herself. It had been ages since she’d been out for just for herself.

She was sitting in Fortescue’s ice cream shop, enjoying her chocolate sundae all the more of the fact that that she wouldn’t have to share with anyone of the other locusts when she walked by. A little thinner and a little wearier, but it was her nonetheless.

Daphne Greengass.

She’d looked right at her, even stared a bit. But there was no way she’d recognized her. Not in that disguise. No, if anything it was because Pansy was gaping at her.

She dropped her spoon as Daphne walked on by, moving to catch up with her and knocking a chair over in the process.

And then what? Tell her who she was? That she was alive? And then what? She’d put everyone in danger, including Daphne.

“Are you ok?” asked the pretty young witch manning the shop.

“I’m fine,” Pansy lied. “Foot just fell asleep. Sorry for the trouble.”

She picked the chair up and sat back down. The witched eyed her for a moment before shrugging and walking back behind the counter.

Whatever was happening with Daphne, she was allowed out and she wasn’t hurt. That would have to be enough for now.

Back at the manor, Tonks was finishing up the long, tedious process of clearing out the makeshift infirmary. The plan had been to let the patients stay with them as long as they needed, but as it grew closer and closer to Christmas, most of them of them wanted to leave. Adwr had exhausted himself writing owls and calling people through the floo, but his network of contacts had paid off and with their help, they were able to evacuate the ones who wanted to leave the country.

There were of course some who, beyond the bounds of good sense, wanted to remain in Britain, either hiding with their loved ones or hiding on their own. They’d tried particularly hard to convinced the ones who wanted to leave on their own to stay behind. And, in the end, a few of the them even agreed, but some didn’t.

And so they had to venture out, securing new safe houses. It was the least they could do.

“There,” Adwr said, coming back into find her vanishing the last of the beds. “It’s not the Hilton or anything of the like, but it’ll hold them.”

They’d decided to move the patients who were staying on into their own rooms. They cordoned off a wing for them where they’d be able to stay. Windsor had even set up a kitchen in one of the rooms so they could keep to themselves if they wanted.

Not that it was entirely altruistic. None of the aurors wanted to risk their plans being overheard and leaked, even accidentally.

“I’m about done here too.” Making things disappear was much easier than organizing them.

“What now?”

Tonks looked around the room.

“What do you think of a party?” she asked. “A Christmas party. We’ve been at it hard. Yes, I know. Phrasing.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. I’ll go round up the others.”

“Just make sure you leave something for Pansy to do.”

“No, no, no!” Bond yelled. “To the right, to the right, to the right.”

“Well, if you’re so bloody clever, why don’t you do it,” Dawlish snapped back.

Tonks watched from the door as the aurors of the ministry, so in sync in the heat of a battle, tried and utterly failed to decorate a Christmas tree.

Bond huffed. “Well, maybe I will.”

Drawing her wand, she pointed it at the baubles the boys were trying to place on the tree.

“See?” she said. “It takes a delicate touch.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Windsor grumbled.

“No wonder you’re all still single.”

The baubles came crashing to the ground, sending everyone who wasn’t Bond into a fit of laughter.

“Come on, quit horsing around,” Tonks said, coming over to help. “The party’s tonight. Do you want to not have a tree to put your presents under.”

“Bold of you to assume we’re not all getting coal this year.” Windsor said. “I don’t know why this is so important to you.”

“I know why.” Adwr said, from over his paper and doing absolutely nothing to help.

“No, you don’t.” Tonks wasn’t in the mood for his teasing. The party was tomorrow and she wasn’t ready and everything had to be perfect. She hadn’t even been able to buy her presents yet. She’d have to sneak away later that night and hope something was open.

“Make yourself useful, Adwr.” Tonks snapped.

“You’re not my boss.”

“Make yourself useful, Adwr.” Bond repeated.

Making a show of grumbling as he folded up his paper. “Let’s at least turn the wireless on.”

“If it’ll get you to hurry.”

Tonks took over the efforts, delegating the Awlishes to go scrounging around the manor for whatever decorations had been left behind, while she, Windsor and Bond set about get the room ready. Tonks insisted on a real tree, so Adwr had taken Hestia and Diggle out to help him get one, coming back and hour later with the biggest she ever seen someone who was not Hagrid carry.

“Good enough for you, Tonks?” Dawlish asked. With the combined efforts of the lot of them, they were finally able to get the ballroom back into the ballroom and looking festive enough to Tonks satisfaction. "I still say you've never put this much effort into something like this.

"Never you mind," she said. "It's looks perfect. I'll have to leave the finishing touches to you lot though. I've got a present to buy. Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone!"

The party was everything Pansy had hoped for. The room had been cleared of the beds and the covers and everything that would have marked it as a hospital. Back was the clear open wooden floor.

The curtains had be re-hung on the windows and colored red and green for the festivities.

A row of tables lined the far wall, filled to the edges of every type of food one could ever want for imagine. She would have thought a house elf had made all of it if she hadn’t overseen the kitchen.

But it was the tree that truly made her gasp. Impossibly tall and impossibly green, it was elegantly strewn with baubles of white and gold as lit candles letting out a soft warm light floated around it. Topping the tree was an old golden start. It had been her favorite part of Christmas-besides the presents-when she was just a girl, but over the years, the star had begun to lose it’s luster and her father had said it was too much bother to repair.

Pansy’s eyes began to water. Who’d ever had found it certainly didn’t think so and the star shone out once more with warm golden light.

“I’d say we did a pretty good job,” Tonks said, coming up beside her and draping her arm across Pansy’s shoulder.

“Tonks…” she took a breath to compose herself. “It’s all so beautiful.”

“Huh? Oh, the decorations. I was talking about the presents.”

Pansy snorted and Tonks and her silly smile. There were indeed a lot of presents and Pansy would be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to tearing into them in the morning.

“We’re each opening one tonight.” Better still. “Sorry, you don’t get to argue on this one. It’s an ancient Tonks family tradition dating back for generations. Or at least since I was four and I talked my family to it.”

“I wasn’t going to argue,” but Tonks had already gone, of to join the others milling about as the wireless played all the old favorites.

Pansy was torn. She wanted to join Tonks, stick by her side all night. But she didn’t want to be clingy. She cringed, thinking about on her third and fourth year with Draco.

She sighed and strode over to the table. A bit of punch-a very little bit, she knew good and well that the punch had a little something extra added to it. would be nice. Leaning against the wall as she always did at parties, she took in the guests. A half circle of chairs had been set up by the wireless, where most of them were chatting.

The ones who weren’t were on the floor dancing with themselves to whatever was playing on the radio or making their way to the food table.

“Cheers, Pansy,” Hestia said, coming up and grabbing her own glass of punch. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” And honestly she was.

“You should come join us. They’re over there talking about a dueling tournament.

Pansy closed her eyes and shook her head, smiling all the while. “Men.”

Hestia snickered. “Actually I think it was Bond and Tonks who started. It’s aurors, really. Always ready to whip their wands out and compare the length. Come on.”

Pansy followed her, but the purposed tournament never happened and she mostly got treated to the aurors trying to one up each other with stories.

“Remember that time,” Tonks said, poking Adwr, “when that couple damn near started a riot in the holding cells?”

She turned to Bond and Windsor. “Those were the two you brought in. What was it they were fighting over again?”

“One of them took the last pumpkin pasty,” Adwr said. “Can’t remember which.”

“Right, that was it. So anyway, they were in separate cells, right? But it wasn’t like we could keep them apart. So they started shouting and all the other people we had in lock up started taking sides, so we had to…”

And so on and so forth.

“Let’s dance,” Tonks said, startling Pansy who’d been lost in thought.

“Sure,” Pansy said, trying to look nonchalant even as she jumped to her feet and followed Tonks away to an open spot. The radio was playing the Weird Sisters rocked up version of Jingle Bells. Tonks took Pansy’s hands as they bopped along to the beat.

They kept at it for the next song and the next one and the one after that. Pansy lost tracked of how long they danced, caught up in everything. Tonks hands in hers, hoping against hope she didn't sweat, the smile on Tonks' face and she sang, loudly and off key, along to the song. Everything was right. Everything was perfect.

But just as the radio turned to a slow song and Pansy moved in to pull Tonks into her arms.

“Ready for a break?” Tonks ask.

“Not even a little.”

Tonks chuckled and teased, “Oh, to be young again. Well, _I’m_ going to take a break. Join you in a bit.”

“Er...yeah, ok.

She watched, longing after her as Tonks walked away, joining Windsor and Hawlish in a round of shots. Good idea, she thought, going to get herself another glass of punch. Her eyes traced the room. Adwr, quite drunk by this point, was kneeling in front of Bond-tipsy herself with a martini in her hand-singing to her.

_That's right!_  
_I've got a cauldron full of hot, strong love_  
_It's a recipe so rare_  
_There's no potion or elixir that_  
_Could ever quite compare!_  
  
_Oh, such thrills await_  
_'Cause, together, we are ready to proceed_  
_Drink from my cauldron full of hot, strong love_  
_It's all the magic you'll ever need!_

Bond rolled her eyes at the drunken man serenading her, though Pansy saw her cheeks tinge pink.

“What do you think, guys? Should I kiss him to shut him up.”

Her answer was a chorus of whoops and cheers and one “anything to the stop the singing.”

Fixing Adwr with a coy look, Bond slowly ran her hand up his chest to his collar. Then she grabbed it and yanked him to her. There was another round cheers as the two gave each other what must have been the snog of their lives. If it wasn’t, Pansy wasn’t sure she was ready to see what could be better than that.

Her body disobeyed her commands, as her eyes slid across the room to Tonks and other parts of her were woken up. Tonks was over by the punch bowl, chatting away happily to Hawlish.

“Anyone care to try and top that?” Adwr said, still slurring his words ever so slightly, though this kiss seemed to have sobered him up just a little.

He didn’t say anything directly, but his eyes lingered on Pansy as he looked around the room.

“I could conjure up some mistletoe, if anybody likes.”

Cliche as it was, Pansy would have not objected to have an excuse to plant one on her. She was even plotting, making her way casually over towards Tonks.

“Later,” Tonks said. “It’s time for presents.”

Pansy had to sit through the agonizing minutes as everybody else got to pick out a present to open first. They would, Tonks explained, go in order of their birthdays. Fine, Pansy didn't mind being dead last. But did Tonks really have to have her birthday after literally everybody else in the room? Pansy wasn't even paying attention to what was happening around her or who was getting what from whom. At least not until Tonks' voice rang out over the chatter.

"I don't know," she said, holding up two presents between her. "The welsh prats are always trying to get something over on us proper British folk, but Pansy's been eying this one pretty suspiciously. Hmm."

_Pick mine. Don't pick mine. Pick mine._

Grinning and putting down Adwr's gift, she said, "I'd better investigate this one."

Unaware that Pansy was just sitting there, halfway hoping to turn invisible, Tonks tore into the package like a little kid hoping for sweets.

"Oh!" And at first, Pansy was sure she'd hated it. But as Tonks smiled grew even brighter as she examined the bottle, she knew she'd made the right choice.

"I hope you like it!" Pansy blurted out, unsure of what to say but knowing that she had to say some thing."

"I love it. I'm game for anything that changes. Let's give it a try" She sprayed a little on her neck and, walking over, leaned into Pansy.

"Go on," she said, "tell me what it smells like."

 _Heaven_. Even her inner voice was squeaking. "Peppermint."

“Very festive. Thanks, Pans,” Tonks said, beaming and kissing her cheek. Pansy quickly gulped down the last of the punch in her glass. If she was going to blush, and she knew she was, she was going to cover it up by pretending to be tipsy.

Tonks bounced over to the tree and retrieved a package. She brought it over to Pansy.

“Here, your turn.”

She pushed a large square, light box into the girl’s hands.

"Don't I get to choose my own gift?" Pansy teased, trying to regain what little was left of herself. As if she would ever have picked anything else.

“Not really. I'm too excited to wait. I hope you like it,” she said. “It took me ages to find the right thing."

Pansy carefully unwrapped her package, partly to spite Tonks, to torture her as much she did, partly to keep her fingers from trembling.

Inside the box, she found a gorgeous gown, green and silky. She held it up, a bit of paper falling to the floor as she did. The kind of thing she only ever got to wear on the most special of occasions. Just looking it, she new it would fit her perfectly and that somehow, Tonks gotten her measurements.

"It's lovely," Pansy murmured.

"Read the note."

So engrossed in the gift, she'd nearly missed the card that had fluttered to the floor. Carefully putting the dress down so as not to wrinkle it, she retrieved Tonks' note.

 _I have the other one_.

"Because you like to match so much," she explained. "Next time we go to a fancy restaurant or something."

Pansy didn't know what to say. Card still in hand, she threw her arms around the woman.

 _I love you, Tonks._ "Thanks, Tonks."

"Thank _you_. For everything."

Much to soon for Pansy's liking, Tonks pulled away, going back to drink and laugh with the aurors.

“We need a name,” Hawlish said. It was already nearly morning, but with no one willing to let the party die, they were sitting around and doing little more than drinking and chatting idly.

“A what?”

“A name,” he repeated. “There’s the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. We should have a name. ”

“What did you have in mind?” his partner asked.

Hawlish shrugged. “Hadn’t given it much thought. The Inglorious Bastards?”

Tonks snickered. “What about the Howling Commandos?”

“That’s good,” said Windsor. “Best I could up with was archangels.”

“Well, if we’re going religious,” said Hestia. “why don’t we call ourselves the Deathly Saints.”

The laughter and the discussion stopped.

“Where did you come up with that, girl?” Diggle asked.

Hestia shrugged. “It just popped into my head.”

“Well, I like it,” Pansy said. She looked around the crowd. The Deathly Saints, she guessed now, given the noddings and the murmurs of agreement.

“Bloody hell,” Hawlish said, “if we’re going to have a name as cool as that, we ought to get tattoos to match it. All of us.

“Pansy could do it!” Tonks said, suddenly. “She’s a brilliant artist.”

“I’m not that good,” Pansy said, trying to sound modest. Tonks waved her off.

“Hush, you. Come on! At least give it a try.” She batted her eyeslashes at Pansy, hands clasped together pretending to beg.

Pansy put her hands on her hips, smirking as she stared her down.

“What will you give me for it?”

Tonks looked up, finger on her cheek and making a show of thinking about it. Finally she shrugged.

“I’ll owe it to you.”

“Deal,” Pansy said a touch too quickly. No chance in Avalon she was going to pass up an opportunity like that. Even if she wasn’t infatuated, no Slytherin would turn down an open favor. “Getme something to draw on.

A quill and a scrap of parchment were conjured from somewhere and Pansy set to work.

Her first attempt was truly awful. She’d tried to draw a figure that had parts of all of them. Spiked hair for Tonks, a coat for Adwr, a hat for Diggle. But with nine of them, it became too complex.

Next tried a cross-a Celtic one-with a laughing skull at the center and wings on either side. _No_ , she thought. _Too close to the Dark Mark_. Especially since someone, Hawlsih probably, was floating the idea of conjuring the image of the tattoo wherever they struck.

“No,” she said, “hang on a tic. I’ve got it.”

Simpler. That was the answer.

Inspiration struck her. She’d been on the right track when she thought part of the tattoo should represent each of them. A sudden flash of the Hallows symbol, a popular tattoo of Grindelwald’s followers she’d been told, was enough to pull it together.

“There,” she said, holding up the parchment. “What do you think?”

“What is it?” Bond asked.

Pansy had drawn a nine-point star, with symbols on under every point and the letters DS in the center.

“It’s all of us. The chameleon is Tonks, the snake is me and the shield is Adwr.” She pointed around the sketch. “You’re the sword and Windsor, you’re the lion. Dawlish is the swan and Hawlish is the hawk . Hestia is the broom and Diggle, you’re the star. And of course the DS is for the Deathly Saints.”

She looked up hopefully, as the parchment was passed around, the newly christened Deathly Saints grabbing at it.

“Well, I like it,” Tonks said. "I’m getting it, even if the rest of you cowards don’t.”

“Yeah,” teased Hawlish, “but where are you getting it? There’s not enough room on your arse for any more ink.”

Pansy raised an eyebrow as Tonks hit him with a stinging hex. When had he seen her arse? And more to the point, when was she going to get a peek?

“So, we’re all in?” Tonks asked. “Good, let’s get started. Come on, who’s first?”

Pansy choked. “Now?”

“Sure, why not?

“Well...don’t you need to have a professional do it?”

“Not really. Don’t worry. I’ve done this loads of times.” At Pansy’s still uncertain look, Tonks said. “You trust me, don’t you?”

Pansy gulped and nodded. “Of course, I trust you, you know that.”

Tonks beamed at her. “Then do you want to go first?”

Pansy nodded again, not trusting herself not to squeak if she spoke.

“Brilliant!” Tonks was smiling so brightly, Pansy was going to need sunglasses. “Where do you want it. We could do your arm? The shoulder is pretty common too, though we’d probably have to send the lads out of the room for that and then we might as well just put it on your tits.”

Tonks waggled her eyes at her.

“Arm…” Pansy forced out. “I mean...My arm, I think.”

“Upper or lower.”

“Do it lower,” Bond suggested. “Then we can show them off without having to flash anyone.”

“You’re no fun,” Tonks whined.

“You also don’t have room on your tits for more ink either.”

_Damn it, am I the only one here who hadn’t seen her altogether?!_

“Wait,” she blurted out. “That can’t be right.” She’d seen Tonks in her nickers before and she couldn’t remember any particularly interestingly placed tattoos.

“Oi!” Tonks said, acting offended. “No fair sneaking peeks at me without returning the favor.”

Yeah, she was drunk.

“I keep them covered up sometimes. I don’t feel like having them around all the time. Metamorph’s privilege,” she explained. “And before this turns into a further discussion of where I may or may not have tatted up and stories that we agreed never to speak of again…”

She glared at her fellow aurors. “Let’s get you inked up."

Taking her by the hand and making her heart do back flips, Tonks led Pansy to the table and sat her down.

“Roll up your sleeve, You’re always so careful,” she said as Pansy unbuttoned her cuff and rolled her sleeve up. “I’ll get you in t-shirts one of these days.”

“No, you won’t.”

Tonks held her arm on the table and called over her shoulder. “Oi! Whoever has the sketch, bring it here.”

It was placed in her upheld hand and a moment later, it was over. Tonks waved her wand over the parchment and then her wrist. Slowly, the sketch appeared on her arm in smooth black lines, as if an invisible hand with an invisible quill was drawing on her arm.

“Any particular color? Whatever you want. It’s your ink.”

“What do you think?” Pansy asked.

“Well, you could do Slytherin green, although you might have to wrestle Bond for it.”

“There can be two,” Bond called from the other side of the room, raising her glass. “Anything to keep the Slytherin end up. Two many bloody ‘Puffers hanging around.”

“I’m thinking blue,” Tonks continued, ignoring the insult to her house. “To match your eyes.”

As if to prove her point, Tonks stared deeply into Pansy’s eyes. Her lips moved ever so slightly as she just barely murmured something that might have been “gorgeous.”

Pansy longed to reach out, to cup the woman’s face, to pull her to her. And she could. They were already so close.

Tonks shook herself.

“So...blue’s good?”

“Blue’s good.”

Another flick of the wand and the lines turned blue.

Pansy retreated to the back of the room to compose herself. Of course, as soon as she stood, Bond had taken her place to get her own tattoo and little attention was paid to her. Green, just as Tonks had said. Hawlish was the only one who got his black. Jones got hers red, for the Welsh dragon, causing Adwr to declare he had to get his white, because she was His and Bond kid. Ed’s was purple and Dawlish’s was red. Diggle got his yellow, the color of flowers.

“What are you going to get?” Pansy asked.

“You pick. I picked yours.”

“Well, it’s got to be pink.” She took the excuse to stroke her hair. It softened under her touch, the hard spikes giving away to tight curls.

_Keep it together, Pansy._

“Of course. Pink it is.”

“Hawlish,” the other Awlish said. “Make yourself useful for a change and fetch your camera.”

Hawlish made a rude gesture at him, but disappeared, returning a few minutes later with it.

The rest of them all shoved together while Hawlish fiddle with his camera.

“Get ready!” he said, scrambling to take his place in the frame.

It would be several weeks before any of them, even remembered the picture and even longer that they would have a chance to get the picture developed. But it was worth the wait.

The nine of them laughing together with arms up held up. Sometimes, the image of Tonks would press a kiss into Pansy’s cheek. Tonks’ copy disappeared, probably to be used as another bookmark, but Pansy’s took a place of honor hung up on her wall. And in her later years, it would be the only way Pansy wanted to remember her time in the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope none of you thought I'd abandoned this. Between travel and having to go back to work, it got delayed. Also, have to keep regular work hours, I'll probably switch to a Saturday or Sunday update day for the duration. That should be the only change. I don't anticipate another week delay.
> 
> There's a small chance some of you saw this a bit early when I accidentally posted the incomplete draft. Oops. I write the chapters on a separate document, but edit them here. So what you get is the more complete version of the story (except when I hit the wrong button).
> 
> I do love writing the aurors together. While this story is where I developed the aurors, their personalities come from a fic that I temporarily lost while writing when my computer died (as did, sadly, the follow up to On the Nature of Evil). While I still haven't been able to get the original outline back for that, I was able to get the chapters I'd written (again, sadly, I'd have start over on On the Art of Trysting), so I hope to finish that at some point.
> 
> But I digress.
> 
> I wanted to portray them as people who have been through it all together and I think I did a decent job of it.
> 
> This chapter gave me a bit of trouble, but I think it was worth in the end to have a breather episode in as everything starts coming to a head. This chapter was orignially a bit longer, with an extended scene where Tonks and Adwr talk about what happened with Tonks wand and other things (*Waggles Eyebrows), but it didn't fit so you can look forward to that next chapter.
> 
> The Deathly Saints may sound familiar to those of you who were in the fandom when the Deathly Hallows was announced. It was a translation that served the basis of a fan theory that Harry would meet or form another group to fight Voldemort and find the Horcruxes. I don't remember it being a terribly popular theory, but it stuck out in my mind enough that I've wanted to use it for years. Since I don't plan on writing DH rewrites for the rest of my life (although I have at least one more, Harry/Pansy, in me) this seemed liked the place to finally use it.
> 
> The Christmas Truce is the name given to the event in WWI in 1914 where soldiers across the trenches stood down and celebrated the holiday with the "enemy". It's my opinion that the war could have ended their had the soldiers had there way, but command put an end to it and prevented further truces. "Christmas in the Trenches" is a beautiful song on the subject if you're interested.
> 
> Bond makes a couple of James Bond references. "No, no, no. To the right, to the right, to the right" is from Casino Royale (the one with Daniel Craig, not the one with David Niven) and "Keeping the Slytherin end up" is a play on the ending line in The Spy Who Loved Me (It's quarantine. I rebinged the series. Sue me.) "Phrasing", of course comes from Archer. The Howling Commandos are from Captain America and the Inglorious Bastards are from...you can probably figure that one out for yourself. Finally, someone else wrote the lyrics for Celestina Warbeck's "Cauldron of Hot Strong Love). I don't know who, only that it wasn't me. I pulled them off a wiki.
> 
> Poor Pansy's getting frustrated. Don't worry. Not very much longer.
> 
> Thanks, as always, for reading!


	19. The Deathly Saints

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Without giving too much away, the mission our heroes go on involves luring snatchers into giving them information. While I believe what Tonks and Pansy go through is fairly tame (note that certain archive warning still don't apply), it may be upsetting to some readers. I will put asterisks between the scenes in this chapter.

“No,” Tonks said, coming into Pansy’s room as she was pulling on her leather pants.

“Oh, now you’re giving me fashion advice,” Pansy said, studying the wallpaper to avoid seeing how Tonks was reacting to the sight of her in knickers.

“Different kind of mission tonight,” Tonks said, flopping down on Pansy’s bed. "And while that look does work for you, I think you’re going to want something a little more femme.”

They spent most of their rotation alternating between going on a patrol and manning the radio, but every so often some tasty piece of information would float their way and they’d drop what they were doing to follow that lead.

“What’s that?” Pansy asked.

“The twins sent us word about a snatcher bar down in Soho. We’re going to try getting some information out of that.”

“And I can’t wear pants for this, because…? Because…?”

“Oh, shut it, you don’t like wearing them anyway.”

Pansy didn’t have a way to refute that fact, so she pressed on. “Fine, just tell me the plan.”

“It’s just you’re basic honey pot gambit. Nothing too hard.”

“And what is a honey pot?”

“You are. Well, you and me. Bond really can’t do it any more. Most guys don’t go for the eye patch. And the ones that do...well, let’s just say they’re pretty weird.”

“What?” Pansy blinked and then what Tonks meant by ‘honey pot’ hit her. “Oh. Ew!”

“Yeah, but it’s not too hard. And don’t worry, we’re all going, so we’ll be safe.”

“Great,” Pansy grumbled. “We get chatted up a by a bunch of snatchers and the men get to sit back and watch.”

Oh, no,” Tonks said, grinning wide. “Adwr, Windsor and Hawlish have to do it too. I think they’re betting on who gets the most...information. Smart money’s on Windsor, just in case you feel like getting in on it.”

Pansy rolled her eyes. “You guys are weird.”

“And proud. So like I said, you’re going to want to dress for the occasion.”

“I don’t suppose I could wear the new dress you got me,” she asked hopefully.

Tonks just chuckled.

“‘Fraid not, Pans. Bit too posh for this place.” She winked at her. “Not unless you want to get shanked and robbed. Soon, I promise.”

She looked over Tonks’ own outfit, a leather miniskirt and a criminally indecently cropped Holyhead Harpies shirt. The woman seemed to have a pathological need to mismatch her clothing, but there was a certain something to the look that Pansy didn’t understand, but that she could appreciate.

“Fine. Fine.” She didn’t ask what ‘shanked’ meant. Pansy was feeling petulant, but she pulled off her vest, tossing it at Tonks as she went to pick out a new skirt.

“What do you think?” she asked, holding her it up to her waist.

“Eh,” Tonks said. “It’s a bit, I don’t know, prim, don’t you think? Don’t you have anything else?”

Pansy pouted. This was the best attention grabbing skirt she had. “Not really.”

Tonks bounced up and off of Pansy’s bed. “Let me take a look.”

“Oi!” Pansy said as Tonks dug carelessly through her wardrobe.

“Damn. You really don’t have anything trashy, do you?”

“Don’t make it sound like a bad thing.”

Tonks ignored her. “Put it on. I’ll see what I can do about it. It’s my turn to play dress up.”

Tonks winked at her again and Pansy put it on doubtfully, standing there as Tonks studied her.

“I thought you weren’t any good at domestic spells?” Pansy asked.

“I’m not. Clothing’s different, though. What’s the good of being a metamorphmagus if you can’t change your clothes to match?”

She waved her wand over Pansy’s skirt. It tighten around her as the fabric crept up her legs.

“I think that’s enough,” Pansy said, her voice cracking. “It’s skirt not a belt.”

“I think it could stand a bit shorter," Tonks said, eying her legs, "but you’re the one who has to wear it.”

Tonks stepped closer, reaching her hands up to Pansy’s collar. And at first, Pansy didn’t understand what was going on. It was as if the woman was playing with her blouse. Then her top button came undone.

Pansy felt the heat rising in her chest as her stomach did back flips inside her. It almost pissed her off. Really? After all that time, after all that longing and pining, _this_ was their big moment?

Tonks undid a second button and Pansy tilted her head up. Whatever. She _so_ deserved this.

“There,” Tonks said. “Now you’ll turn a few guys heads.

Pansy screamed inside her head, frustration pushing her to a breaking point. She swallowed, steeling herself. It was time to push, if only just a little bit.

“What about girls?” she asked.

“Girls?” She sounded as if she didn’t understand, as if the thought had never even occurred to her. “Sure, I guess. If that's you’re thing.”

Tonks reach out and for a moment, just for a moment, Pansy thought she was going to stroke her cheek. But instead the woman tousled her hair.

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” she said.

Tonks left and Pansy sighed. So much for that idea.

*******************

Pansy went downstairs and found the rest of them waiting for her. Only Dawlish was missing. Keeping the home fires burning and guarding their still stunned prisoners, she assumed.

“Ready?” Tonks asked.

“Yeah,” Pansy said, not meeting her eye.

“Tonks told you the plan?” Windsor asked.

Pansy grimaced. “Can I just say that I don’t like it?”

“I know. And you know you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, right? But it’s a good way to get information.”

“We’ll be fine. We’ve got the best looking after us.” She nodded at Diggle, throwing her arm around Pansy’s shoulder. Pansy shrugged away from her.

Tonks gave her a confused looked.

“Everything alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She couldn’t have convinced even herself. “Let’s just get this over.”

“Ok…” Tonks said slowly. She shrugged. “Whatever happens, don’t go anywhere without making sure one of us sees you. And if anyone asks you to go anywhere, tell them you have apparation sickness and you’re allergic to floo powder. Don’t go anywhere we can’t follow.”

Pansy nodded and, despite her vexation, allowed Tonks to apparate her with the rest of them.

They arrived in a pub in an area that could have given Knockturn Alley competition in terms of grime. She was going to have to take a shower or nine when this was all over.

“You’re good?” Bond asked.

Windsor nodded. “Just make sure you’ve got our backs.”

She led Diggle and Hestia away.

“Where they going?” Pansy whispered to Tonks.

“They’re going to make a perimeter and make sure nothing happens to us.” She squeezed Pansy’s shoulder. “Pans?”

Pansy looked up at her.

“Listen, we’re going to be alright, ok? I’m not going to let anything happen to you. But is more than a bit risky, what we’re doing. Stick close to me and don’t take your eyes off your drink.”

Pansy opened her mouth to tell Tonks that she already knew that and that she didn’t need someone like her to look out for her, in the snarkiest way possible.

She closed it again and nodded. “Just make sure you be careful too. I know you.”

She gave Tonks a wink of her own.

The two of them joined the queue to get in, leaving the boys behind. They didn’t want anyone to think they were together.

Even as they waited in line, chatting about quidditch on the dual goal of looking natural and possibly attracting some attention, Pansy saw that eyes were turning their way.

The place was crowded when they were finally allowed in and they hovered around the back until a spot opened up where they could see most of the bar.

“What do we do?” Pansy asked in hushed tones as Tonks waved down a waitress.

“Right now, we’re just going to sit and watch. This lot’s not drunk enough to start boasting.”

Tonks ordered them two ginger beers in large mugs and when they arrived, Pansy understood why. No one would have been fooled if they really examined it, but under the dim light and with every other draw on their attention it would pass for beer.

Smile and vapid expression still plastered on her face, Tonks asked, “You sure you’re alright? You got a bit shirty there.”

“I’m fine,” Pansy insisted. “Just...I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“You know we’re all here for you, right? Well, Hawlish can be a bit of an ass. Well, more than a bit. But we’re all in this together."

“I know. I just...don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Yeah,” Tonks said, taking a sip. “I get it. I’ve been through it too.”

She probably had at that, Pansy thought. Not that that was what Tonks thought _she_ was talking about. And sure enough, she prattled on about being scared the first time she went into battle and sounding thoroughly unlike herself that Pansy tuned herself out.

It didn't take either of them very long to grab some attention. Most of the men in the bar wouldn’t approach them, not yet, but they were looking there way and every so often someone would holler at them. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Tonks would wave back at them and bury her face giggling into Pansy’s shoulder. Even if it was just an act, it was still positively revolting.

But, really, they had the easy job, even if the leers of strange men made her skin crawl. After all, all they had to do right was sit there and be on display. Their opposite number were putting in the real work. She wouldn’t watch them, not openly anyway, but as she scanned the room, she was always careful to see how the Adwr and the others were doing. She could only hope they didn't really behave like the pigs they were imitating now. That and be thankful that she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

They were on their third hour and their fifth drink when the waitress came over holding two mugs they hadn’t ordered.

“Here,” she said, “from the ‘gentlemen’ at the bar.”

Her voice made it clear what she thought of them. It sounded like it pained her to say it.

“Well, that’s sweet!” Tonks said brightly. “Isn’t that sweet, Lola?”

“Lola” was the name Tonks had chosen for Pansy’s alias of day, something that was hysterically funny for reason that Tonks wouldn’t explain.

“Yeah. Sweet.” Pansy had left the flirting to Tonks. She’d do her part if anyone came over and she’d wink at the men who got her eye, but she didn’t have it in her to lure any of this lot over. She wouldn’t even know how.

“What do you think of them?” Tonks asked.

“They’re pricks,” the waitress said immediately. They do a lot of boasting and I wouldn’t be alone with them, if you know what I mean.

“But,” she continued, “they’re regulars and they’ve never actually done anything we could throw them out for. I’d seriously think it over before you talk to them.”

“Oh, we will,” Tonks promised. She waited for her to walk away before she conferenced with Pansy. “What do you think?”

Pansy looked them up and down, trying a mimicking Tonks’ carefree expression.

“They certainly look nasty enough to be snatchers,” she said.

They were both clad in ratty, patched over coats, neither them looked like they’d ever even heard of a comb, much less a haircut and one of them was sporting a spotty beard.

“That seems this place’s usual clientele.” Tonks was casually stirring her beer with the tip of her finger. Pulling it out, she examined her nails.

“Hmm. Not drugged. I’m almost insulted. Potion-detecting polish,” she explained. “Well, it’s not as if we have any better lead. Let’s do it.”

“I hope ‘it’, isn’t what it sounds like,” Pansy quipped as Tonks bounced up in her seat and waved the men over.

The men wasted no time in joining them at their table.

“Looks like our lucky night, wouldn’t you say so, Joe.”

“Lucky, huh.” Tonks leaned over, displaying her cleavage. _She’s_ enhanced _those,_ Pansy though. “What do you think, Lola? Do you think our friends are going to...get lucky?”

She waggled her eyebrows at her, pretending not to notice how Joe and whatever the other one was called smirked that.

“I don’t know, Colby…” She looked them over, her game face on. “They’re dishy enough, but it’s all so sudden. We don’t even know they’re names.”

The one who spoke put on the same posh accent Tonks used to mock her when she felt Pansy was being especially snotty.

“Oh, begging your pardon, m’ladies.” He waved his hand and tilted his head in a half bow. “I have the honor of being Carl Brown and this is my dear friend Joseph Williams.”

Pansy feared for Wizarding Britain if this ever actually worked for anyone. It was not the way _she'd_ learned courtship.

“Nice to meet you,” she held out her hand for Carl to carry on the joke by kissing her knuckles. Out of the corner of her eye, Pansy swore she saw her suppress a cringe of her own when his lips touched her hand. “I’m Colby Holstein and this saucy minx is Lola Davies.”

“Well, now that we’re all friends,” Joe said, “what do you say we get better acquainted?”

  
As their “company” droned on, Pansy was struck by the similarities they had with some of Draco’s least endearing qualities. The arrogance and the self-interest. But whereas Draco was charming and could at least pretend to be interested in you when it suited him, he didn’t think Carl and Joe learned anything meaningful in the entire time they were talking.

Not that Pansy minded. She didn’t have the same flair for the kind flirting the mission required. Not the way Tonks could. Pansy did her best, playing the part of the coquettish ingenue that was all so prim and innocent and proper, and yet so willing to be seduced. She feigned embarrassment and their innuendo, but she let Tonks guide the conversation.

The ease of their mission would have been depressing, if it hadn’t been important. While Carl and Joe kept the rounds coming. The waitress, whom Pansy could have kissed, ignored what the men ordered for them and kept bringing them their soda. It saved them the trouble of pretending to drink.

They were in the middle of yet another story of an epic battle they’d been in when Tonks cut in.

“How do such charming men like you get into so many duels? Who’d want to kill you?”

 _Laying it on pretty thick there, Tonks_.

“Jealous boyfriends, obviously,” Pansy said.

Joe chuckled. “I’m not saying that’s never happened, love, but we’re a pretty big deal in the ministry.”

Carl shot him a look.

“Watch it!” he hissed, but Joe waved him off.

“What of it? We’re all friends here, aren’t we?” To Tonks and Pansy, he said, “See, the ministry gave us a very special job. We’re out there everyday, putting our lives on the line to capture deadly enemies of the state.”

Joe puffed himself up and even Carl looked pleased with himself.

Tonks and Pansy shared a look. They’d got them.

“Ooh, how exciting!” Pansy said with a gasp. “What do you do?”

Joe opened his mouth, no doubt to announce what they were doing in front of Merlin and everyone, but his friend cut him off.

“It’s not something we can discuss here. State secrets, you know. You understand.”

“Aw, pleeeeease?” Tonks begged, but the men stood firm.

“Colby, I need to go powder my nose,” Pansy said. “Come with me?”

They got up and headed for the bathroom. The stares of the men bored into her as they walked away, making her skin crawl.

“Fair warning,” Tonks said, as they entered the cramped room and checked to make sure they were alone, “you may not want to say ‘powder your nose’ here. Kinda means something different in a place like this. I’ll explain it to you later.”

“Whatever. So, what? We go home with them?”

“I think it’s the only way we’re going to get them to say more. Williams’ still sober enough to keep his mouth shut in public. Merlin, I hate the smart ones sometimes.”

Tonks conjured a patronus, a glowing silver snake that slithered through the air and out the window.

“I thought your patronus was some sort of lizard,” Pansy said.

“I’m sending a message ahead. Letting them know to follow us.” Tonks looked up at her for the first time since entering the bathroom. “You’re doing great out there, Pans.”

“Me, you’re the one doing all the work.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Tonks insisted. “Not everybody likes fast women. Some of them like to think they chased you.”

“Bleh,” Pansy said, sticking out her tongue and making a face. “You make us sound like foxes or something.”

“Yeah, well…” she shrugged. “Ready to get this over with?”

“The sooner the better.”

Carl and Joe we’re whispering among themselves and didn’t notice they’d come back until they sat down.

“We were getting worried about you,” Carl said, still leering. “We were thinking of going in after you.”

Pansy had the sickening feeling he wasn’t just teasing.

“Well, we had a lot to talk about. We _really_ want to hear about your jobs.”

“I know, love, I know. But we can’t talk about it. You wouldn’t want us to get caught by dark wizards, now would you?”

“Well, that’s what we were talking about?” Pansy said. “You don’t have to tell us here, do you?”

“No,” he said, smirking a very Slytherinesque smirk. “I don’t reckon we do.”

He dug in his pocket and pulled out a handful of sickles, pressing them into Carl’s hand.

“Pay up and then we'll apparate these fine young ladies to the flat.”

“Ooh, sorry,” Tonks said, cringing. “I’m sorry. But I get apparition sickness real bad.”

She traced a circle in Joe’s chest, leaning in close. “You wouldn't want me to not be in the mood for...anything.”

“No...we wouldn’t want that at all.” He looked around, his eyes settling on the fireplace.

“I’m allergic,” Pansy said quickly. “I’ll break out in hives if I even smell floo powder.”

The quick escapes out, they finally settled on the Knight Bus. After all the indignity they already suffered and the indignity they would no doubt suffer later, they agreed to pay for the bus fare.

They led Tonks and Pansy out, their arms wrapped around their wastes. Circe, Carl even smelled stale. His hand crept down, squeezing her bum and giving her a light tab. It was all she could do to force out a giggle and not smack him across the face.

Tonks summoned the Knight Bus by holding out her want. From the corner of her eye, Pansy saw a couple get in line behind them. Good. They weren’t alone.

A purple, triple decker bus appeared in front of them and Tonks paid the boy with spots. Much to Pansy’s relief, the bus was crowded. They’d have to stay on the bus longer, but at least they’d be safe.

Not that that stopped Carl and Joe from trying to put the moves on them, even with all those people around. More than once, Pansy had to swat Carl’s hand from crawling up her skirt and Tonks was failing to keep Joe from getting his hand up her shirt. And they had to pretend to be amused by it.

They arrived in the rough end of London, getting off with their backup discreetly behind. Joe and Carl led them to their flat, a grungy building that made the Burrow look like the pinnacle of find architecture.

“They don’t pay the heroes of wizardkind much these days,” Pansy said as they climbed the stairs, earning a sidelong glare from Tonks. She hadn’t been able to resist.

“Yeah, it’s not much. We spend most of our time on base, so we just needed a little hideaway. Pardon the mess, we don’t exactly get back here a lot.

The mess that greeted Pansy was something that would have sent her mother to an early grave. She glanced at Tonks. Even she was looking at it with doubt.

Everywhere, every available spot, seemed to be covered with all manner of debris. Pizza boxes, beer cans, take out bags. Pansy couldn’t have sworn under veritaserum that there was a floor and that there weren't further layers of rubbish all the way through the flat below.

At the absolute very least, they had the decency to clear off the sofa and chair for them, though Pansy didn’t doubt they wouldn’t have bothered if they weren’t trying to impress them. Joe sat down on the chair, pulling Tonks down with him. Pansy watch as Tonks positioned herself on his lap.

She sat hastily down, not about to let Carl try that move on her. He sat beside her, pulling her into him with one arm.

“So…” Pansy said, swatting his hand away. “Tell us more about these dark wizards…”

Joe rolled his eyes. “You didn’t really come here to talk, did you?”

“Oh, but you promised,” Tonks said with a pout. Smirking suddenly, Tonks whispered something in his ear that made his eyes go wide.

“Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt if that’s the way you feel about it. You see, there are dangerous criminals out there who are fighting to overthrow the ministry. But they’re stupid, see? Because the minister’s got it sorted out so we can track them.”

“Is that so?” Pansy said, pretending this was a juicy bit of gossip and not something she’d already known. “How do you do that?”

“It’s a secret,” Carl said quickly, “But now if anyone even _thinks_ something treasonous, we can find them.”

“And what do you do with them?”

“We arrest them. ‘Course, a lot of them fight back. That’s why they send us to get them. Wouldn’t want some pansy getting themselves killed?”

“Of course not,” Tonks said, stroking Joe’s hair. “I bet the two of you are the best with your wands.”

“You might say that. And speaking of…”

As if they were reading each other’s minds, Joe pulled Tonks to him as Carl started to push Pansy back on to the wretched coach.

Pansy thought she was going to throw up, having that creep on top of her. She glanced at Tonks, who nodded ever so slightly. They’d gotten what they’d come for, at least for now.

Pansy squirmed out from under him stood up, almost causing the man to fall onto the coach.

“Can’t we go anywhere else?” Her stomach churned at the thought of what she was suggesting. “Somewhere more...private.”

Joe looked at Joe, who nodded at him. “Take the room. We’ll be fine out here, won’t we love?”

While he was distracted, Pansy kneed the man in the groin. Hard. He screamed in rage and in pain as he fell to the ground. She looked around, making sure Tonks wasn’t watching, but she was too busy with Joe. Good. Pansy gave him a sharp kick in the side before stunning him.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Tonks said. “You?”

“Grossed out, but he didn’t do anything to me, if that you’re asking."

Tonks let out a sigh of relief. “We’d better take them with us. I don’t much fancy having more bodies piling up in your basement, but we can’t exactly leave snatchers out snatching. I don’t suppose you’re any good at transfiguring people?”

Pansy shook her head. Tonks swore.

“Let’s get the others, then. It’s about time they did some of the heavy lifting.”

They made their way out of the dingy apartment and found Jones and Diggle already on their way up. Tonks hastily explained what had happened and they followed them back to flat.

“Well, this brings up old memories,” Jones said, displaying a bit more sass than Pansy was used to seeing from the girl.

“Not the time,” Tonks hissed.

It took their combined efforts to get their hostages down to a manageable size, transfigured into guinea pigs. It was the closest they could come to Pansy’s request.

“Any word from the boys?” Tonks asked. The rodents secured, they were getting ready to apparate.

“Not yet,” Diggle said. “Hopefully our comrades are back at the base.”

“Hope so,” Tonks said, looking worried despite her tone. “Ready?”

“Wait!” Pansy said. An idea had occurred to her. “I want to see them.”

Diggle looked to Tonks, who was giving her a questioning glance of her own. Finally, she nodded at Diggle, who pulled out the guinea pigs and held them out for her. Pansy bent down to look them in the eyes.

“Just so you know, I _am_ a pansy. Pansy Parkinson. And I’m going to be one of the ones to bring you and your master down.” Smirking at what she was about to do next, she grabbed on to Tonks’ arm.

“Voldemort.” she intoned softly and slowly, stretching out every syllable. Admid the shouts from Diggle and Jones, they left the flat, knowing that others would be arriving any second.

*******************

Pansy had earned herself a dressing down from Diggle and Jones and from Dawlish when he came up from the basement to see what all the yelling was about. She didn’t care. It had been worth it.

Tonks had stayed silent throughout the argument until, finally, when it looked like they might start jinxing each other over it, she stepped in.

“Enough. It’s done and there’s nothing we can do about it now. Just...leave it.”

She offered Pansy a flash of a smile before heading off, no doubt worried about the boys who still hadn’t gotten back yet.

“We _will_ be talking about this later,” Dawlish said.

“Fine,” Pansy said, leaving herself.

By the time she was done showering and changing the boys still hadn’t returned, so Pansy went in search of Tonks. She found her lounging on her bed, thumbing through a magazine so quickly she couldn’t have been paying attention to it.

She poked her head in through the door.

“Hey,” she said.

Tonks looked up and tossed her magazine to the side. “Hey.”

“Can I come in?” At the woman’s nod, Pansy slipped in, closing the door behind her.

“You’re not mad?” she asked. “About what I did?

Tonks pushed herself up and leaned back against the headboard. She jerked her head, motioning for Pansy to sit. Pansy took her place on the edge of the bed.

“I’m not going to say it was a good idea, but...no. I’m not mad. I get it. Sometimes I want to remind them we’re still out there, fighting.”

Stretching back out, she poked at Pansy with her foot.

“Oi!”

“I still can’t get over it, what Her- what I’d heard about you with the girl I know. You’re pretty sort of marvelous, you know that?”

Pansy blushed, both at Tonks words and at the sight of her. She’d changed out of her ridiculous honey pot getup and was Tonks again, clad in her tight jeans and equally tight Weird Sisters shirt.

It had killed her, seeing Tonks hanging off someone else, someone who wasn’t her, even if it was for a mission. And every time he’d pawed at her; she could have cursed him every single time.

 _I’m Pansy Parkinson and I’m going to be one of the ones who brings your master down._ The words rang out in her head. She _was_ Pansy bleeding Parkinson and she was a Slytherin and she was sick of it. Sick of the doubt, sick of the longing and sick of the waiting. She was done and she was going to get what she wanted-or not-one way or another.

“Well,” she said, slowly. “Well aware.”

She stuck her tongue out at Tonks.

“Is that an invitation?”

Pansy smirked. Tonks really was a flirt. What would she do if Pansy stopped getting flustered.

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Tonks was doing her best to maintain her composure, but her eyes widen and Pansy knew she’d gotten to her. Keeping her eyes fixed on the woman she had now cornered between her and the headboard, she scooted closer.

“Sure you want to play this game,” Tonks tried to tease, her voice betraying her.

Hands on either side of her, Pansy leaned in. Slowly. She was going to savor this and she was going to give Tonks every chance to say no.

But she didn’t say anything.

“Pixie got your tongue?”

Any closer and it would be too late for either of them to back out. She scent of Tonks’ perfume, different from what it was at the bar and yet still distinctly her, filled Pansy’s nose, intoxicating her.

Pansy raised her eyebrows, asking Tonks her permission to close the short, agonizing distance between them. The woman opened her mouth, either to answer or just to kiss her.

A loud banging on the door interrupted them. Pansy, startled jumped bag, nearly falling off the bed in a Tonksesque fashion.

“Oi!” Adwr called. “Meeting time. Go find Pansy and meet us in the dining room.

They shared a looked, neither of them speaking, neither of them acknowledging what they had been about to do.

“We’d better go, before they come looking for us.” She offered Pansy a weak smile before getting up. She spared her one last panicked look over her shoulder, before scurrying out of the room.

Pansy flopped on the bed and groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for my promise about the heart to heart between Tonks and Adwr. Next chapter, I promise! This has always been and always will be, Pansy's story and Tonks is play things close to the chest right now, but...you'll see.
> 
> In the original outline, the honey pot ploy made up for a only a small section of this chapter, but as the scene grew and things started to fall in place better around it, it became the focus of the chapter and I'm happier for it.
> 
> Another change in the outline involves what would have been the next chapter. A certain event in canon actually happens later than what I had it outlined for. And while it wouldn't change things much in the scheme of things, it works better later. Which also means that certain things specific to this fic will happen sooner. One to two more chapters, depending on how the next one goes.
> 
> A couple of references in this one, by restrained myself. Colby is the nickname Tonks gave Pansy in Evil Angel, by lightblue_nymphadora, the fic that inspired this one. Holstein was a stupid cow pun to go with it. Lola was the the alias Pansy gave in another fic I wrote elsewhere. When I decided that this chapter took place in Soho, I decided to use it again. She gets her last name from Ray Davies, one of the members of The Kinks, completing the "Lola" reference.
> 
> Joseph Williams and Carl Brown were very nearly named George Parker and Harry Longabaugh respectively, which were the real names of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Given that I primarily ship Harry/Pansy, it amused me that Pansy would be stuck unwillingly with a man named Harry, but I decided it would be two distracting to have them with two characters that shared canon names, so I picked the first names from SS officers.
> 
> I don't think I'll be able to confirm it, but "saucy minx" sticks out in my head as a phrase used to describe Pansy in a Harry/Pansy fic from the Astronomy Tower. But since I can't get into it in the present and the Wayback machine has failed me, it will have to remain a mystery for the time being.
> 
> I'm excited for the next few chapters and I hope you are two. And, as always, thanks for reading!


	20. Captured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Descriptions of torture.

Tonks took a seat between Adwr and Dawlish, much to the chagrin of Bond who no doubt wanted to sit next to her boyfriend. Too bad. She’d live. She didn’t trust herself around Pansy.

It had been a mistake. If she had let her sit next to her, it would have been easier to ignore her. Throughout the meeting, Tonks did her best to avoid Pansy’s eye. But whenever she chanced a look, the girl’s gaze was fixed solely upon her.

It didn't help that there wasn't much to the meeting. Both teams had found about as much as the other. The Snatchers had a base somewhere and that they claimed not to know exactly what happened to the prisoners. Windsor, who'd apparently won their bet had managed to confirm that where ever the prisoners were being taken, it wasn't to the camps. Which left them with another mystery to solve.

"Wish they wouldn't make things so bloody complicated," Dawlish grumbled.

"It's actually clever," Diggle said. "If no one knows everything, no one person can betray everything."

"Nice to know they're as paranoid about this as we are."

She beat a retreat as soon as the meeting was over, pretending not to see Pansy trying to grab her attention. It was cruel of her, but she couldn’t do this. Not now. Not until she had time to clear her head. 

Tonks was smoking a cigarette she’d nicked from Pansy in the garden when Adwr found her.

She groaned when she looked up and saw him. Great. Just fucking fantastic. The last person she wanted to see. Well, second to last.

"Bum a cigarette?" he asked, leaning against the garden wall beside her."

She handed him one and lit it with her wand.

"You look like you've got something on your mind," he said, taking a drag.

“A few things," Tonks admitted. "What do you think about Pansy?”

“She’s...unexpected,” he said. "I like her.”

“Just like?"

The way he raised his eyebrows told Tonks he knew or at least suspected more than he was letting on.

"He shrugged. “I'm fond of the kid, you know that. And she seems to make you happy. But she's a member of one of the oldest Dark families. I figure there’s got to be a story.”

“You’re forgetting that I’m also from one of the oldest dark families. Sort of.” She took a long drag of her own to stall having to answer the question further. “Like you said, she’s unexpected. Did I ever tell you how we met? Met again, that is.”

“A bit yeah. Something about the Death Eaters holding her family hostage.” He added with a grin, "Sucker punched Bellatrix Lestrange, right?"

“Yeah,” Tonks said. “And on her own-against the wishes of her family, I might add-she made a plan to escape. And if it weren’t for her parents doing a runner, it would have worked."

She spat that last sentence, before she continued. She’d _so_ love to cast a few nasty spells on them if she ever met them.

“Since then, she’s managed to learn enough to fight back, just because she wants to. You were there, Adwr. She had every chance to leave and she stayed. I got an earful for that after you left, by the way.”

“Good girl,” Adwr murmured.

Tonks opened her mouth. On a roll, she was about to blurt out how beautiful the girl was or how she looked in her leather pants or even how she sometimes caught herself thinking impure thoughts when her mind wandered.

“Anyway, she’s good to have around,” she finished lamely. The look in his eyes told her that he didn’t buy it, but for a moment, it looked like he might let the matter drop. But as he looked her in the eye and held the stare, she knew that she wasn't getting out of this without talking about what had happened.

When the silence got too much for her, she let out and exapserated sigh and said, “Look, just fucking ask what you’re gonna ask.”

He chuckled. “Well, I was going to ask if I saw what I thought I saw, but I think you pretty well covered that, so..have you been-”

“Watch it.”

“Together long?”

Tonks stared straight ahead at the garden ahead. “We aren’t.”

From the corner of her she got the gist of the skeptical look he was giving her.

“Oh? So I didn’t interrupt anything when I came looking for you?”

“Nope,” she said evenly. After another moment of silence, she admitted, “Technically.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “Yeah. That would explain the way she was looking at you. And the way you weren’t looking at her. So…"

“So?”

Adwr rolled his eyes. “Are you going to make me say it? Fine. So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing,” Tonks said, her eyes fixed straight ahead again.

“Yeah? Doesn’t sound like you?”

"And what does? Starting a ridiculous relationship in the middle of a war that probably won't last, because we're two different people who are only stuck together by chance."

She was rambling again and only her partner's chuckle made her pause.

"You say that like any of us aren't stuck together by chance," he said.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, Tonks, I know what you mean. I also know the difference between you not wanting to do something and you being scared of doing something. Mind you, that one doesn't happen often. I see the way the two of you look at eacher other and I see the way you cling to her when you're in trouble. The way you flirt with her, too."

"I flirt with everyone."

“Yeah, not like that though. Look, maybe if there weren’t a war then, yeah, things would be different. But it’s not and you know as well as I do that the odds are against any of us are going to make it out of this alive. I just reckon we all got to grab our happiness while we can.” He took one last drag of his cigarette before tossing it on the ground and crushing under his shoe. “Just think about it, huh?”

“How’s your wound doing?” She asked. It had been a nasty spell he’d be hit with and she was done talking about her feelings.

“Twinges now and then, but I’m fine.”

“I wouldn’t blame you, you know, if you left.”

Adwr grinned. “Yeah, you would.”

“Well, maybe a little. Still…” She grinned back at him.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Actually, I had an idea to make things go easier. I’ll tell you later,” he said at her questioning look.

“Anything else?” Adwr asked.

“Just thinking about the battle,” Tonks said. Adwr walked over and she made a space for him beside her on the coach.

“Don’t worry about it.” He winked at her. “It only twinges when I’m awake.”

Tonks rolled her eyes. “Not that. I was thinking about that spell I cast after you got hit. The blasting curse, I mean.”

“What of it?”

“Wasn’t it...didn’t seem a bit powerful to you?”

Adwr shrugged. “A little, I guess.”

“Adwr, it shook the entire building.” 

“Yeah, but you were angry.

Tonks shook her head. “I thought about that. But I’ve been angry battle before. Besides, it was just you.”

“I’m going to ignore that one, bach, because now you’ve got my curiosity.” He held out his hand. “Can I see your wand?”

She gave it to him and he examined it carefully, breaking Moody’s cardinal rule of wand safety that didn’t involve losing ones buttocks by staring down the business end of it.

“Same wand?” he asked.

“Yep. Aspen and dragon heart string, 12 inches.”

He handed it back to her. “Well, I’ve never heard of anything like it before."

“Maybe it was something they were doing there. You think it could be one of their...experiments?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” he said, "but I doubt it. One, they were looking more for the source of magic, rather than trying to make it stronger. Two, wouldn’t it have effected all of us?”

“Oh, right.” She fell a bit. It wasn’t that she wanted it to be that-not after what Bond had told her once they were alone-but at least it would have been an answer.

“Well, if it’s not my wand, and it wasn’t the camp, then it’s got to be me.”

“Have you done any other magic?”

She shrugged. “A bit. Here and there. Nothing special.”

“Up for a little target practice?”

After convincing him that, yes, Pansy really would murder them if they tried it inside the garden (again), she went with Adwr to a clear bit of field on the grounds. He conjured and banished small clay birds high into the air for her to aim at. Tonks felt a certain amount of smugness at the number of birds she blew to smithereens. She still had it.

“Your aim’s good.”

“But it’s nothing special! I can hit these birds all day.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Adwr said. “You’re trying the same blasting curse-”

“-The one I used in the battle-

“Why don’t you try something big just for the hell of it?”

“What were you thinking?”

“Why don’t you try fiendfyre?”

“I’m not trying fiendfyre.”

“Well, then you’ll never know if you can. Unless you already did. Maybe we were those two wizards, come back from the future, to save the present.” He grinned. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a time turner?”

“Pretty sure that only ever happens if you’re Harry Potter.”

The two wizards at the camp. That was another mystery that needed solving.

“Who do you think they were?” she asked for what must have been the dozenth time.

“No clue,” he said. “I’m just glad they were around to help. Anyway, I think you’re stalling.”

“Cadwaldr, I do believe you’re calling me a coward.”

“If the broom fits.”

Tonks stare broke as the line sent her into a fit of giggles.

“That one doesn’t even make sense.”

“Maybe not. But you’re still stalling.”

"Fine. But no fiendfyre."

He ran her through the gauntlet, calling out spells as fast as he could think of them. It was like being back in the academy again. Hexes, curses, charms, transfiguration. Seemingly every spell she'd ever learned. Only Moody had ever been able to push her harder.

“Damn it,” she said, panting. “If you were such a bloody coward, you’d make a pretty good instructor.”

“You don’t see many instructors on the front lines.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s got to be an emotional thing. It’s the only thing that makes sense. 'Cause all this? This all just you.”

Tonks crossed her arms. So that was another problem she didn’t have an answer for.

Adwr patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Tonksie. We’ll figure it out. Just don’t try anything that might explode on you.”

She shoved him playfully, smiling. “You’re such a prick.”

“Yeah, but who else would put up with you? Well…” he grinned, stepping quickly out of her reach, “I reckon Pansy might."

They walked back together to the house. Tonks silenced herself as she went up the stairs, retreating to the safety of her room. She'd been tempted to go as far as to disillusion herself, but decided that would be a spell too far.

Tonks lay on the bed that suddenly felt empty. No, she thought, she wasn’t going to start a relationship in the middle of a war. When it was over, if they won-if they were still alive-maybe then she’d think about it.

Tonks was grinning wide as they moved into position. The Deathly Saints had assembled on the Cliff late one night, readying themselves for their biggest ambush yet. The most snatchers they’d ever had to face was three and that was with just her and Pansy. Now there were nine of them.

They’d all come out for this one. The inaugural duel of the newly christened Deathly Saints. The Snatchers wouldn’t know what hit them.

“Who wants to do the honors?” Dawlish asked.

“I’ll go first,” Tonks said. This was exactly the sort of thing she needed to blow off some steam. “All ready?”

They’d circle up, ready to stun any Snatcher that came their way.

“Voldemort.”

With a crack, four Snatchers, looking every bit as sketchy as the ones they'd just drank and gone home with. appeared in front of them. There was a chorus of stunners and each one of them feel to the ground.

“A little boring, that,” Hawlish said. Tonks agreed. There wasn’t much sport in ambushing them.

“Well, the night’s still young. Let’s take out a few more.”

“I don’t-” Dawlish started.

“Voldemort,” she said again.

It was just as easy the second time. Four more came, four more stunned.

“We should get out of here,” Dawlish said. “Take them back to the manor and go on patrol.”

He was watching the sky, as if he believed the Snatchers were watching them and would be dropping down any minute.

Tonks’ smarter self overwhelmed her, and she agreed. They were finishing up their transfiguration when the backup arrived. Crack after crack after crack reverberated through the forest as they apparated in, no doubt looking for their missing comrades. Light filled the clear night sky and it was all Tonks could do to keep track of friend from foe.

The battle didn’t last long, no more than a few minutes.

“Everyone ok?” Tonks asked, doing a headcount. “Wait, where’s Pansy?”

Her stomach dropped as she looked frantically at the bodies on the ground. She knew in her heart that she’d see her laying there. But there were only snatchers.

Her brief moment of relief ended when she realized what that meant.

“They must have taken her!”

She was hyperventilating. Pansy was gone and they still hadn’t figured out where they were taking them. 

“Calm down!” Adwr said. “We’ll find her. After all... we’ve got plenty of people to ask.”

They looked down again at their prisoners.

Pansy kicked and struggled as the snatchers dragged her down the path to a place she had been many times in her life- Malfoy Manor.

They’d taken her unawares, grabbing her from behind as she turned to let her coat take a purple hex. They’d hadn’t even bothered stunning her before apparating away. None of the others had been grabbed, so either this was a hit and run or she was the target.

Through her thrashing, she escaped. At the very least, she could be proud of the chase she put them through. Zig-zagging like Tonks had trained her, she was nearly at the gate before they were able to stop her. And even under the geas of a leg binding jinx, she crawled until they grabbed her.

She was still fighting against them when they brought her into the drawing room. Waiting for her was the woman who once might have been her future mother-in-law.

“Auntie Cissa,” she said in the deliberately curt, polite tone the Malfoy matriarch used so often.

“Pansy.” She didn't sound angry or even shocked. She just sounded disappointed. “What are you doing?”

“Right now?”

She rolled her eyes, the way she would have if she had caught are some childish mischief.

“You know where to take her.” She sighed, and gave Pansy a pained, sad look. “My sister will have to deal with her.”

So, Bellatrix was coming. They took her down to dungeons, maybe even the one she’d stolen the cabinet from. Again she heard voices from down the hall, but the room they brought her too was empty and cramped. There were chains hanging from the wall from the middle ages. Looking as gleeful Filch would have if he’d ever been allowed to use the ones at Hogwarts like he so wanted, the snatchers chained her up.

“Looking forward to having a bird like you around for a change,” one of them said, leering at her.

“Don’t let Lestrange hear you say that,” another of them warned. “You heard her.”

“And what does dear, old Auntie want?”

“I think you know.”

And Pansy was left alone to wait.

It was several hours before anything happened. Pansy was trying to get some sleep between the pain in her arms when she heard the door open. She looked up. Bellatrix Lestrange glided into the room, the same sick evil smile on her face.

“Aw, look at what we caught. The poor, little blood traitor.” 

Pansy eyed the wand in the woman’s hand. She didn’t have far she could dodge, but she’d have to try, if only to show the woman she hadn’t broken her. But instead of a curse, Bellatrix kicked Pansy hard in her stomach. Hard enough that she almost vomited from the pain.

As Pansy was coughing and sputtering, Bellatrix said, “I do so hate resorting to fist fighting like those animals you sullied yourself with. But that’s the sort of thing you respond to.”

So she still remembered Pansy punching her in the face. Good. Pansy glared up at her and not for the first time longed to stab the evil woman through the heart.

“Let me out and I’ll show you how well I respond to it,” she said with a snarl.

Bellatrix kicked her again, this time between her legs.

“How does such a noble family breed such a mistake?” She knelt down in front of her. “This isn’t like last time, girl. The Dark Lord doesn’t need you to convince all your little friends to join us. All we need to know is what you’ve told your new friends. And the Dark Lord has given me free reign to do whatever I want to get it.”

“Right,” Pansy said, skepticism dripping from her voice. “And then you’ll what? Let me go?”

Bellatrix let out a cold laugh. “No. You’re a blood traitor and we’re going to kill you either way. The only question is how much we’re going to make it hurt first.”

Pansy had only ever seen the Cruciatus once. In her fourth year when the Death Eater pretending to be Moody had performed it on a spider for all of them to watch. It had been horrifying enough to watch. But to feel it? It was as if every single last one of her nerves that was burning and freezing at once. It was as if every last inch of her flesh was being stabbed.

Pansy didn’t know how long it lasted. No more than a few seconds, though it seemed to last forever.

“Who are you working with?”

Pansy was sobbing as she struggled to speak. She wasn’t going to tell them. She wasn’t going to betray her friends again. Not to this thing. Not to anyone.

“The Hobgoblins,” she spat out.

 _Crucio_.

“Tell me their names.”

“Stubby Boardman.”

_Crucio._

Pansy lost track of how many times Bellatrix cast the spell on her. More than once, she lost consciousness, briefly, only to have the sweet relief ripped away from her when Bellatrix revived her.

Of course, she knew the story of Bellatrix Lestrange well. What she had done to the Longbottoms. Pansy didn’t know how long she could take it, before she too went insane. After that, she’d only be lucky if they let her go to be confined to St. Mungo’s, babbling at walls for the rest of her life.

“Tell me what I want to know,” the Death Eater said with a growl, “and I’ll end it quickly.”

Pansy grinned through the pain, knowing it might be the last thing she ever did. 

“Voldemort can pluck it right out of my head. Have him do it.”

Roaring, Bellatrix hit Pansy with the worst Crucio yet, leaving it on for far longer than she had before finally lifting it.

And Pansy couldn’t take it any longer. 

“Weak.” It was all Pansy could do to get the word out. Anything. Anything at all to get Bellatrix to kill her.

“What was that?”

“I said you’re weak. Why don’t you stop teasing me and actually hit me?”

“Alright.” That same maniacal smile curled across her face as she cursed her again.

Pansy screamed again, never stopping until she went black.

She came to as suddenly as she had gone out and for a moment, Pansy couldn’t remember where she was. Then she shifted and the chains clanked, bringing her back to her situation. She was alive? Why? Why hadn’t Bellatrix killed her?

“Look, she’s awake.”

Pansy raised her head. Death Eaters, maybe nine of them, had crowded into the cell with her. Pansy didn’t recognize any of them and she thought she’d known most of the inner circle from the whispers and innuendo she’d overheard at her parent’s dinner parties.

Pansy scanned her captors again, just to be sure. Bellatrix was nowhere to be seen. Had she given up or was she off on some mission of her own?

“You heard the Dark Lord,” a woman near the front said, “Do anything you like to get her to talk, but she stays alive.”

Any consideration she might have given on that point, that the Dark Lord wanted her alive for some reason, was forgotten when they started on her.

Bellatrix LeStrange was powerful, but feral. She thought only in terms of physical pain and what she could do to make her prey suffer. These Death Eaters could never hope to best her in raw strength, but they were above her in terms of brains.

The first thing they did was silence her. Maybe Bellatrix had told them about her defiance or maybe they just knew that it was an outlet for her to stay sane. Whatever the reason, robbing her of her ability to taunt them, to even scream, gave her one less refuge to hide in.

Then they blinded her. Pansy didn’t see the point at first until the first spell, a relatively benign stinging hex hit her side as bludgeoning hex struck her in the knee. Before she’d been at least able to try and dodge, if only to make it more difficult, but now she had to guess as she was struck with increasingly painful or humiliating spells. In the long stretches where they just watched her, she would jerk in twist, trying to escape the spell that wasn’t coming. And every time they laughed, the sound boring into her. They could do anything they wanted to her and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

“ _Finite incantatem_ ,” one of them said. Her vision returned.

“Are you ready to talk?”

Pansy nodded.

“Who are you working with?”

A small voice in the back of her head told her, begged her, _pleaded_ with her to break, to tell them anything they wanted to know.

“You’re wasting your time. I’m not going to tell you anything. You’ll just have to kill me.”

“Fine, then.”

The wizard in front raised his wand. He stared. She stared back.

“Last chance.”

Pansy nodded. “I know.”

She was ready.

“ _Avada Kedavra_.”

The spell flew past her head, missing her by inches.

The wizard gave her an unreadable expression; he almost looked impressed.

“We’ll leave her to Lestrange when she gets back.”

Once again, Pansy was left alone.

When the door opened again, she steeled herself for another round of Cruciatus. But it wasn’t Bellatrix Lestrange.

He looked older than she had ever seen him. Deathly pale and impossibly thin-and he’d never been exactly beefy to begin with-it was as if the world had stood still for years and he had just kept on going.

“Draco?” she half-asked with a gasp. She still couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

“Hey, Pansy,” he said. He even sounded old.

“I take it you’re here to get me to talk.” No matter the history between them, he was still a Death Eater.

But Draco shook his head as he sat down in a stool across from her.

“They don’t know I’m here. And I don’t have long. Look,” he leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re a pureblood, Pansy. That’s the only reason you’re still alive. They need as many of us alive as possible. They’ll go easy on you. They’ll...they’ll let you go.”

Pansy scoffed. “Yeah? And what do I have to do? Betray anyone who ever mattered to me and let myself be married off to someone so I can push out babies.”

“Oh, please! As if you weren’t working for that your whole life! Like any of us hadn’t.” He got up and paced around the room. “Don’t you see what’s going on, Pansy? He won and all we can do is live with it.”

Pansy didn’t know what to say. It was the first time she’d ever heard Draco-any Malfoy-say anything that wasn’t one hundred percent licking the robes of the Dark Lord. 

“Aw…” she mocked.”Is it not everything you thought it would be.”

Draco whirled around, storming over and shoving his wand into her throat.

“Shut up,” he said with a growl.

Pansy didn’t break her stare. “Do it then.”

And for a moment, she thought he really would. Snarling, his mouth opened.

Then he swore and turned away.

“You were really going to let me, weren’t you?”

Pansy shook her arms, rattling the chains that were still binding her to the wall. She winced at the renewed ache. “It’s not as if I can go anywhere. Not unless you’re planning on letting me go.”

Draco barked out a laugh.

“You’re really not scared of me, are you?”

“You’re not going to hurt me.”

“No. No, I am not.” He stared her dead in the eye. “But they will. And if you don’t give it up soon, it won’t matter when you finally break.”

“They can kill me for all I care.”

He offered up a weak smile. “Same old, Pansy,” he murmured.

He kneeled down in front of her, kissing her softly on the forehead.

She flinched away, earning her a pained, remorseful look.

“Sorry.” He turned away and walked towards the door.

“It’s not too late, you know?” she said. “It’s not too late for any of us.”

Draco stopped but didn’t turn around.

“Please…” Pansy begged. Tears were falling down her face as the last vestiges of her shields went down with them. “I’ll help you. We’ll help you. You know what’s going happen to you, if you don’t.”

Draco nodded. “I know. But it’s too late for me. It’s been nice knowing you, Pansy.”

And with that he walked away, closing the door behind him and locking her back in.

Pansy had somehow managed to fall asleep in that position, from the sheer exhaustion of the sleepless nights and the torture, but she was awoken by the sound of the door opening.

Blinking through the sleep and the darkness, Pansy made out two figures coming into her cell. They were dressed in black. More Death Eaters.

They’d never come robed before. They never felt the need to bother. So this was it then. They weren’t even going to let her see their faces, the cowards.

“Look,” she said, summoning up one last spark of defiance. She was going make them kill her before she let them torture her again. “I’ve got plans, so if we could get this over with.”

“What,” said a woman’s voice and it was the most beautiful sound Pansy had ever heard. A voice she never thought she’d hear again.

“ _Lumos_ ,” the voice whispered and the light that came flooding into the room revealed the face of Nymphadora Tonks.

“You didn't we'd let them have you, did you,” she said. She motioned to the side with her head and only then did Pansy see Adwr standing beside her, carrying a large metal cylinder with a piece of wood attached to the end.

“How did you find me?” Pansy asked.

“Nevermind about that,” Tonks said. She ran over to her, crouching down and slashing her wand at the chains. Pansy’s arms cried out in relief from finally being able to rest them.

Tonks dug in her jacket pocket, retrieving a small glass vial. She took out the cork and held it to Pansy’s lips.

“Pepper Up. We’re going to need to move fast.” Tonks helped Pansy to her feet, lacing their fingers together and pulling her out of the room, Adwr leading the way.

“Aren’t we going to disillusion ourselves?” Pansy asked as they sped through the halls. She’d only just realized that they were going out openly.

Adwr shook his head. “We tried that. The spell dropped as soon as we got in.”

“We think it happened after you stole the cabinet.”

Tonks spared a quick glance and her, opening her mouth to speak.

“Well, well, well,” spock a gruff voice in what sounded like a failed imitation of Lucius Malfoy. “What have we here?”

Adwr shifted the object in his hand and one of the loudest sounds Pansy had ever heard filled her heade. There was a flash of red, and the man fell to the floor.

“Bloody hell, Adwr!”

“I told you it was going to be loud. Come on, that’ll have attracted attention.”

“What was that?” Pansy asked. They were running now, all pretense of stealth now abandoned.

“A shotgun. It’s a kind of muggle wand,” Adwr explained. “Nicked from back hom. We used to use it when we were guarding the fields.”

“You took the time to get it.” Pansy felt a little put out, despite being unable to argue with the results.

“It’s always good to have a muggle solution on hand, just in case.”

They had made it to the stairs when Adwr stopped them.

"What are we waiting for?”

“The back up,” Tonks said.

She watched as Tonks and Adwr cocked their heads, listening for any sound.

An explosion shook the manor, nearly making them lose their footing.

“Did you get a bloody giant to help you?”

“Actually, yes,” Adwr said.

Pansy looked between him and Tonks. Tonks nodded.

“Let’s go,” Adwr said. They ran up the stairs and into the hall. Tonks dragged Pansy as Adwr led them into the Malfoys’ vast dining room. A hole had been cut into the wall, destroying centuries old stained class and several portraits in the process. Pansy was sorely disappointed she wasn’t going to see Lucius Malfoy’s temper tantrum at the destruction.

Death Eaters were pouring into the room, but if they even noticed them at all they paid them no mind. The manor had never stopped shaking from when it started and Pansy was beginning to believe they really had conjured a giant from somewhere.

They crouched down and Adwr still had had his gun at the ready as they watched, waiting.

“How are we getting out of here?” Pansy whispered.

Tonks cast a spell, before answering. “That’s what took us awhile. We knew there’d be wards and we couldn’t be sure you’d be up for flying.”

Pansy head spun at the thought of it.

“So, again, how are we getting out of here?

“Bloody hell! How’d they get out.” A group of Snatchers had spotted them.

Adwr swore. With a blasting hex, he punched another hole in the already ruined wall.

“I’ll catch up with you,” he said.

Tonks scooped Pansy up with strength Pansy wouldn’t have guessed she had and they ran. Three more bangs from Adwr’s gun rang out from behind. Fire filled the sky and she got her first glimpse of the giant swinging an uprooted and slamming at the Death Eaters trying to take it down when they weren’t dodging out of it’s way.

“Did the Order come too?” She could hear the battle, not see it, but she would have sworn to Circe that there were more than just the eight of them. But Tonks shook her head.

“We want them to think they are though.”

Pansy would have to ask later.

Tonks was taking her to the orchard. Just beyond the tree line, behind one the oak she and Draco used to climb when they were kids, was parked a beat up blue car.

“We’re driving away?”

“Not exactly?”

It must have taken Tonks everything she had in her to open the door one handed without dropping Pansy, but she managed it and helped her inside.

“Where did you even get this?” Pansy asked. Tonks had climbed over the hood in her rush to get in and was now fumbling with the seat belt.

“The Forbidden Forest. It must have been living there for years.”

“Alright?” Adwr asked, getting into the back seat.

“For now. Any of them following us?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good.”

She muttered to herself, “Please still work, please still work,” as she started the beastly thing. Whatever it was that made it work roared to life.

“No, this way,” Tonks said, turning the wheel hard. The car seemed to have a mind of it’s own and wanted to drive deeper into the forest.

“Let’s hope this thing still flies.”

Pansy looked up and turned her head slowly.

“Flies?”

The car jerked up and they’d taken off, climbing high into the sky. It wasn’t better in Pansy’s mind than being on a broom, but at least she didn’t have to feel her feet dangling or the wind rushing past her.

“Hey, Tonks?” Adwr said. “You reckon that Arthur will mind if I break the back windshield?”

“At this point? Probably not.”

“We’ve got a tail.”

Tonks looked through the mirror.”

“Fuck!”

“What?” Pansy asked, trying to see.

“They can fly?” Adwr asked. “Since when can they fucking fly?”

“Like, July?” Tonks said.

“Can’t this car out run them?” Pansy had no idea how fast a flying car could go, but Tonks had told her about car racing.

Adwr ignored her, beating the window with the back of his gun until the glass shattered.

“Damn it, Adwr, you’re a wizard. Vanish it next time!”

“And risk taking out this hunk of junk?”

“Hey! Be nice to Angie. Got a lot of good memories in this old thing.”

“Whatever.” He fired again.

“Did you get one?” Pansy asked.

“Heh. Not a chance in hell. I’m not going to hit them at this distance. I’m just trying to scare them off.” He took another shot. “Not that these bastards seem to be backing off.”

“Just keep firing. I’ll worry about losing them. Pansy, hang on.”

Tonks had never flown the car before today, but she had more than one street race with Charlie Weasley. She swerved, rising up and down as she pushed the car as fast as she could. It was hard to tell without the street signs, but the speedometer was maxed out.

“Have we lost them?” she asked.

“Not yet.”

Tonks swore.

“In case we don’t go out of this,” Adwr said, still aiming out the broken back window, “I just want you to know I love you.”

He’d said it without any emotion, never looking up and to no one in particular. Despite everything, Pansy and Tonks turned and stared at him.

He must have sensed their eyes on him, because he shrugged and said with equal dispassion, “Well, somebody in this car had to say it.”

He took another, missing but close enough to send the Death Eater diving.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll save the anguished declarations of love for later.”

Tonks wasn’t sure there was going to be a later. They hadn’t had time to fix the Anglia at all and it hadn’t taken a beating in the years since she had last driven it. She had never flown it and no matter how hard she pushed it, she couldn’t shake the Death Eaters.

“Fuck!” A jet of green light shot past them, taking out their mirror.

“Running out of time, Tonks.” Adwr took three more shots in quick succession. They were gaining on them.

Tonks looked around, as if she hoped an idea would spring to her mind. They’d flown far beyond the Malfoy grounds. They must beyond the wards now. If they weren’t, they never would be.

“Tonks!”

“Shut it…” She took a few deep breaths. “Alright. I’ve got an idea. Do you trust me?”

“I mean, not really.”

Pansy swatted at him, wincing.

"Thanks. Right, be ready. We’re only going to get one shot at this.”

Tonks swung around, turning the car around and flying head on into the oncoming Death Eaters. 

“Tonks!” Pansy shrieked, “What are we doing!”

“Something stupid.” She kept their course and so did the Death Eaters. They were playing chicken.

Tonks broke first, pulling the car into a steep dive. She turned off the motor.

“I’m really going to need you to stop panicking,” Tonks said to the hyperventilating girl beside her.

“But we’re going to crash!”

“The car’s going to crash. We’re going to leave.”

“A Wronkski Feint,” Adwr said, nodding. He glanced out the window. They were still close. “We’re going to have to wait until they pull up.”

He shrunk his gun as Tonks pulled Pansy close to her.

“I really need you to relax,” she said, stroking her back. “I promise you we can do this, but if you panic, we might splinch you.”

“But...but…” She was pale.

“We’re getting close,” Adwr said. Pansy was shaking badly.

Tonks looked to Adwr.”

“Sorry, bach,” he said. “See you on the other side, I promise.”

With a wave of his want, he stunned Pansy. The girl went limp in her arms.

“She’ll be ok,” Adwr said.

They were less than a hundred feet from the ground and the Death Eaters were showing no sign of giving up. If they were going to do this, they were going to have to do it soon.

“Damn it, they’re still coming.”

“We’re not going to trick them into thinking we’re committing suicide. We’re just going to have to go.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’ll explode and we’ll take out a couple of them.”

Tonks nodded.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“My mum’s place. Ready?”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

Just as they were about to collide into the ground below, they apparated.

Pansy was still in Tonks’s arms when they landed in the living room of her home. One worry taken care of. She carried her to the couch, laying her down gently. There was no blood and Pansy seemed to be in one piece. Tonks started breathing again. She hadn’t been splinched.

“We should get a healer,” Adwr said.

Tonks nodded. “I know. But who? I don’t think we can fool Barry again. I really don’t think we did the first time. I’ll wake my parents up. You tell the others where we’re at.”

Though it pained her to tear herself away from the girl, she ran up the stairs to her parent’s room.

Banging on the door, she shouted. “Mum! Dad! It’s me. Please, Pansy’s hurt.”

She could hear the sounds of somonee jumping out of bed and a moment later, her mum threw the door open.

“Dora? What happened?”

She shooked her head. “I don’t know exactly. But I think she’s been tortured.”

Her mum gasped, pushing past her daughter and racing down the stairs, Tonks close behind.

They found Adwr standing over Pansy, fidgeting with his wand.

“Mum,” he said with a nod to Mrs. Tonks. “I was trying to decide if I should reenervate her.”

“Not until we see if she’s alright. Give me room."

They stood back, watching on as Mrs Tonks kneeled in front of Pansy, muttering and waving her wand over her.

Adwr put his arm around Tonks shoulder, pulling to him. Now that it was over, now that they had escaped, itwass Tonks’ turn to break down. Her arms crossed over her chest, Tonks was trying and failing to keep herself from shaking.

She nodded, unable to form the words.

“I sent Peri a patronus. No word back on them yet. But it’s a long way to Clithroe."

If Bond had even made it back to the manor. For all they knew, they were the only ones left. And there Pansy lay. Under the stunning spell and with the gauntness to her already pale skin from whatever she had gone through, she already looked…

“I can’t lose her,” she murmured.

Adwr squeezed. “You’re not going to.”

Finally, her mum stood.

“Dora. There’s some vials of sleep potion in my bathroom. In the cabinet. Go get it please.”

Something about that bothered Tonks, but she pushed the thought from her mind as she dashed up the stairs. She didn’t bother trying to stay quiet for her sleeping dad-who didn’t wake up anyway-as she threw the cabinet door open. Her mom hadn’t been kidding. One whole shelf was lined front to back, wall to wall with vials of dreamless sleep. She grabbed the first one she could lay her fingers on and brought to her mom. With Adwr’s help, they poured it down Pansy’s throat.

“How is she,” Tonks asked, terrified of the answer.

“Only time will tell, but Adwr told me what happened. She was lucid when you found her, that’s a good sign.”

They carried her up to Tonks’ old room, getting her into the before renverating her. She didn’t wake up.

“Her breathing’s good,” her mum said. “That’s good.”

She rubbed her daughter’s back.

“She’ll pull through. You got her in time.”

Tonks forced a weak smile, tearing her eyes away from Pansy long enough to allow herself to be pulled into a hug.

“Thanks mum.”

Adwr conjured a cot and bedding for her, and set it up beside the bed.

“Reckon you’d want to be there…”

Tonks nodded. “You’re the best.”

They left her alone, her mum going back to bed and Adwr heading for the couch. She climbed into the cot, but sleep wasn’t coming. She rolled over and, propping herself up on one elbow, watched as the girl slept. Maybe it was desperate, wishful thinking, but she was sure that a bit of color was returning to Pansy’s cheeks.

To think that’d they’d-she’d-almost lost her. There’d be a lot to say in the morning.

But Pansy was still asleep when Tonks woke, sleep having snuck up on her in her vigil. Stiff, she stretched as the sunlight shone through the window. It must have been noon already.

In the clear light of day, it was clear Pansy was doing better. Her skin was now back to its normal tone and her breathing was slow, deep and smooth. No longer splayed out on her back, she rolled over and curled up in her night. Tonks reckoned she would sleep for ages, after what she’d been through. She stood quietly, pressing a soft kiss onto Pansy’s forehead and snuck out the room.

She was surprised when she got downstairs and all of the DS were there. Adwr and Bond were cuddling on the couch, while Windsor and Dawlish were leaned against the wall sipping tea and Hawlish paced back and forth. Even Hestia and Diggle were there, occupying her mum’s favorite love seat.

Hawlish was the first to see her on the stair, doing a double take when he saw her.

“Tonks,” he said. “Good to see you're still with us.”

“Is she…?” Diggle trailed off.

Tonks swallowed and nodded.

“Yeah. She’s still asleep, but she’s better.”

There were whoops and cheers, until her mum, doing a passable impersonation of Molly Weasley, stormed out of the kitchen and threaten to hex them all if they woke Pansy. Tonks dissolved into a fit laughter, not stopping until she was thoroughly out of breath.

Breakfast was an informal affair of sandwiches, though her mum still threatened woe upon anyone who made a mess in her home. But all of them, with the exception of Diggle, had been on the receiving end of both Mrs. Tonks’ hospitality and anger and were on their best behavior.

Taking turns checking in on Pansy, they filled each other in on what had happened the night before. The others hadn’t stayed long after Tonks and Adwr had flown away. They’d released the fiendfyre and last they’d saw, it was burning it’s way to Malfoy manor.

“I hope it killed them all,” Tonks muttered darkly. It would save them the trouble of hunting them down later.

She left Adwr to tell there part of while she went up to check on Pansy, still resting peacefully, though she had rolled over again.

It was only as she was closing the door again that she realized what had been nagging on her. And after poking her head into her parent’s room and finding it empty, only confirmed her suspicions.

She returned downstairs, flashing a quick thumbs up by way update on her way to the kitchen. 

“Mum, where’s dad?”

Her mum had been humming as she washed the dishes, a lullaby she used to sing Tonks when she was a girl, but froze at the question.

“He’s at work, dear.” She hadn’t turned around, continuing as if she believed she’d fooled her daughter.

“You’re lying.” It was a statement she rarely dared to make, even as an adult. She crossed her arms, staring her mum down.“Dad never works weekends. And you never do the washing by hand, not unless you’re upset.”

“Dear…” Tonks could hear the tremble in her mother’s voice, even as she still refused to face her. “I didn’t want to worry.”

“Mum, what happened?”

“He left.” She turned around, tears lining her eyes. Andromeda Tonks, for all that had happened, was still very much a Black and she loathed showing weakness in front of anyone, much less the ones she loved. In all her life, Tonks could only remember seeing her mum cry once, when they got the news that Sirius was going to Azkaban.

Tonks’ feet moved on their own accord and she was across the room, hugging her mum tight.

“We’d been arguing. He’d want to go into hiding. He said it was too dangerous for me. That they’d leave me alone if he wasn’t around. I wouldn’t hear it. Bellatrix still hates me.” She was sobbing now.

“Then I woke up one morning and he was gone. He’d left a note, the stupid, bloody coward. I haven’t seen him since.”

Tonks squeezed her mum.

“Did you go looking for him?”

Face buried in her daughter’s shoulder, her mum shook her head.

“I thought about it. I even sent him a patronus. But I don’t want to risk it. What if they’re watching me?”

Tonks reckoned that if the Death Eaters were actually watching her parents’ home, they’d have stormed when they’d all shown up.

“He’ll be alright, mum,” she promised.

Pansy shifted as she woke, stretching and yawned

“Hey, you slug-a-bed. Thought you were going to sleep ‘til King Arthur woke up from Avalon.”

Pansy chuckled and opened her eyes. Tonks was sitting crossed leg on a cot, resting her head on her hand as she watched her.

“Shut it,” she said, smiling. “I haven’t been asleep that long.”

“Hah! It’s been a day and a half. I was about ready to haul your arse to St. Mungo’s, but mum insisted we let you sleep?”

“She’s here?” Pansy looked around. “Where are we?”

“Back at my parents’ place. We couldn’t be sure the manor was safe after you got captured, so they’re taking turns watching it and beefing up the warding. Reckon it’ll be ready by the time you’re ready to move.”

“They? What about you?”

“Well, I’ve had to help mum and keep her valmed down, haven’t I?” She grinned. “She’s not too chuffed about having us all underfoot.”

Pansy giggled and Tonks smiled at her before turning serious.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she said, honestly. She would never forget the Cruciatus, not ever, but only the memory of the pain remained.

Tonks nodded. “Yeah, mum said the cruciatus wouldn’t leave any damage, physical at least. Did...did they do anything else?”

“Nothing too bad,” she promised. Tonks would just worry. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

She tried lifting her arms and winced. “My arms could use some rest.”

“We’ll get you some potions. You up for some other visitors? Only I think they’ll want to know you’re back.”

Pansy thought about it and shook her head.

“Good.” Tonks shot a spell over her shoulder. The door closed, locking with a snap.

“Practiced that one, have you?” Pansy teased.

Tonks shrugged, feigning innocence. “Useful trick to know. Come on, budge up.”

Pansy scooted herslef to one side, careful not to put any weight on her arms and giving Tonks enough room to climb in with her.

“They’re not going to interrupt us?” Pansy asked.

“I’ll tell them you’re still sleeping,” she promised. “I had a lot of time to think while we were looking for you. Before even.”

Her words were softer, barely above a whisper and the loudest thing Pansy had ever heard.

“And you’re not going to run off and hide on me again?”

“Not a chance.

Tonks rolled over onto her side and pulled Pansy into a hug, before shrieking and letting go.

“You’re hurt. I’m sorry, you’re hurt.”

Pansy had completely forgotten about her arms until Tonks reminded her. And now that she had, the dull, throbbing pain returned in full force.

“I don’t care,” Pansy said with a slow shake of her head.

“You’re arms…”

“I still don’t care.”

She stepped forward. Tonks hesitated.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “It-We can wait.”

Pansy shook her head again. “I can’t. Not anymore.”

She didn’t give Tonks another chance to overthink it. She wrapped her arms loosely around Tonks’ neck, wincing as she forced herself through the pain. The woman’s breath hitched even as she held Pansy tight.

The last thought on Pansy's mind was…

 _Finally_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rescue from the Death Eaters one of the first ever scenes I envisioned for this story and if the time stamp on the earliest drafts I have on this story are anything to go by, I've been waiting more than 8 years to have Adwr say, "Well, somebody in this car had to say it." I can't tell you how happy I am to have finally got here.
> 
> I think this has been the longest chapter so far and we've broken 100,000 words! Thank you all for sticking with it so far and I hope at this point you're with me to the end.


	21. New Love

“You know,” Tonks said, “We’re going to have to get out of bed eventually.”

Pansy shook her head. “Too comfy.”

They’d pushed it as much as they could. They’d only been interrupted from their snogging once when her mum had knocked on the door, asking if everything was alright. Feeling far too old to be hiding a girl in her room from her mother, Tonk still felt the adolescent thrill of the whole thing as she lied through her teeth and told her Pansy was still sleepy and that she’d be down for dinner.

“Sooner or later they’re going to come looking for me.”

“Let them,” Pansy said.

Tonks raised her eyebrow. “And let them catch us like this?”

Despite Pansy’s objections that she was perfectly fine, Tonks wasn’t going to let her risk doing further injury to herself in the throes of passion and insisted she keep her hands, if not her lips, to herself. When the threat of cursing her with the full body bind only elicited the comment of “kinky” from the girl, Tonks had threatened to go downstairs.

So Tonks was on her hands and knees over the girl, careful not to jostle her too much when she leaned in for another kiss.

“It’s not like we’re in our knickers or anything.” Not for lack of trying on Pansy’s part.

“True, but if they catch us, the pictures will be passed around at every party you ever go to for the rest of your life.”

Pansy opened her mouth, and Tonks stopped her with a kiss. “It’s happened before.”

Tonks pushed herself up and climbed off the bed. “I’m not going to make you come with me, but I’m going downstairs. I’ll tell them you’re not ready for visitors if you like.”

Pansy pouted, but when Tonks didn’t give in and get back into bed with her, she sighed, grumbled and threw her covers off.

“I’ll come down too, just give me a minute.”

Bond had picked up a change of clothes for each of them on her last trip to the manor, knowing full well that the girl would want to clean up as soon as she could.

“The shower’s the first door on the left,” she said, handing Pansy her favorite blouse and skirt. “There’s towels and stuff in the closet.”

“Thanks, Tonks. Wait for me?” She smirked. “Unless you want to join me.”

“Go take your shower.” Tonks said, shooing her out the door.

“Your loss.” Pansy gave her a peck on the cheek before going to wash up.

Tonks changed, then amused herself poking around her old things until Pansy returned, looking something like her old self.

“How do I look?” she asked, doing a little twirl.

Tonks pretended to think it over, before teasing, “Eh. You’ll do.”

Taking Pansy’s hand, lacing their fingers together and kissing her knuckles.

“I'm over the moon, you know that right?”

Pansy’s cheeks went flush.

“We just need to figure out what we’re going to tell those prats,” Tonks continued, jerking her heads towards the door. “I mean, I don’t care if they know, but they’re going to take the mickey.

“I can take it. You have to pay me with kisses, though.”

Tonks snickered. “If you’re twisting my arm. Come on.”

They walked down together, unlacing their hands before they reached the landing. Their friends were in the living room cleaning, no doubt before her mum came in from wherever she was and caught them at whatever mess they’d made.

Bond looked up, took one look at them and said, “Pay up.”

“How do you know?” Hawlish said, objection in his voice.

Adwr looked the couple up and down. “Pay up.”

“You’re just-”

“Damn it, Hawlish,” Dawlish said. “Just shut up and give her the gold.”

Grumbling, Hawlish dug in his pocket for a couple of galleons and tossed them to Bond. He wasn’t the only one who had money riding on them as half their friends handed gold over to the other half.

“Merlin’s ass!” Tonks whined, “Already?”

“You knew it was coming,” Bond said, causing Pansy to giggle.

“Yeah, but already?” she turned on Adwr. “And what did you bet?”

“Aw, you know they won’t let me bet on you anymore. But for what it’s worth…” He pinched one of the coins from Bond, “I knew it all the time.”

“Only because I told you,” Pansy blurted out.

“Where’s mum?” Tonks asked, changing the subject.

“She went out to get some things. Wouldn’t hear of one of us going. Reckon she needed some space."

Adwr gave her a significant look. So far he was the only one she’d told about her dad going into hiding, though she’d tell Pansy soon enough. When the timing was better?

“Anyway,” he continued. “We think we’re about ready to go back to the manor, though there’s still that last precaution.”

While Pansy was still sleeping, and during the few times they had managed to drag Tonks from her side, usually to eat, they’d discussed what to do about their living arrangements. The Death Eaters now knew for sure that Pansy was still in Britain, even if they already suspected. However, despite it being an obvious place to look, nothing suggested that the manor had been invaded or even looked at.

The DS had debated heavily over whether they even wanted to go back. But the lack of a viable lack of alternative and the seeming disinterest from the Death Eaters led to them deciding to return. 

They’d taken the turns warding the manor, stopping just short of the Fidelius and they’d be doing that as soon all of them were there to assist.

The last precaution they were planning on taking before they all returned. A few of them would go back early, making a show of being there in case they were being lured into a trap. It was a risky mission and they’d settled with a spell they used to pick people at random, an old favorite from the academy when they need a “volunteer.” In the end, Adwr and Bond would be going with Dawlish and Diggle. Tonks was torn between wanting to go where the danger was and not wanting to leave either Pansy or her mum’s sides. In the end, she was glad the choice had been made for her.

Knowing her mum would be home soon and needing some time to prepare the news-her mum always had an unpredictable reaction to her daughter’s choice in girlfriends-she joined in. Pansy had made a half-hearted offer to help, but after they insisted she rest, thoroughly enjoyed her role as supervisor. Tonks had a suspicion that this was just a small taste of the Pansy that Hermione and the others had talked about.

“You missed a spot,” Pansy said, pointing to a microscopic speck on the ground they’d missed scrubbing.

“What are we, house elves?” Tonks asked.

Pansy looked her up and down, her smile turning into a leer. “No...But I wouldn’t mind if you dressed like one while you’re cleaning. Such a lovely view.”

She waggled her wand lazily at her.

“Love,” Tonks said sweetly, “don’t go down that road with me unless you’re really, really sure. I have  _ much _ more experience.”

She walked slowly to the girl sitting on the couch as she said. When she was in front of her, she leaned in, smirking at the way Pansy blushed as her eyes drifted down her shirt. Taking Pansy’s face in her hand, she gave her a short, deep kiss. Just long enough to get her going, but not long enough for her to truly enjoy it.

“Hey, no fair,” Pansy whined as Tonks stepped back just out of reach. “Get back here.”

A sponge hit Tonks in the back of the head and she turned around to see Jones snickering. “Get back to work! You can snog each other silly later.”

“But then we won’t be able to watch,” Hawlish said.

Tonks and Bond called him a pig while the men roared in laughter and they all got back to work.

It wasn’t quite up to snuff when her mom returned, arms ladened down with groceries, but it was good enough and she was pleased enough at their efforts to be in a mostly pleasant mood. 

Dinner was a lovely affair of roast pork and roasted potatoes while they enjoyed the last night they’d all spend together. Diggle and her mum traded stories from the old days while the aurors told highly-edited stories of their own. Even Pansy had a few adventures of her own to share.

But as nice as it was, Tonks kept catching herself tapping her fingers or glancing at the clock. The minutes dragged. She’d tell her mum later. Not that she was scared of how she’d react. Far from it. She just wanted to have a bit more time with Pansy to herself.

Not nearly soon enough for her liking, her mum started to yawn. Jumping up, and knocking over her chair in the process, Tonks started clearing the table.

“You’re helpful tonight.”

“Just trying to do my part,” she said, making as much eye contact with her mum as she had made with her the morning after they got there.

“Uh huh.” But whatever suspicions Mrs. Tonks may or might not have, she kept them to herself.

“Be careful,” Tonks said, giving Adwr and Bond each a hug in turn.

“No,” Bond said, sticking her tongue out. 

“I will,” Adwr said. “And don’t worry. We’ve got Diggle to protect us. Oi, your grace! Hurry it up, will you?”

Windsor gave him a dirty look. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

“We’ll send you a patronus when we get there,” Bond said. “And when it’s safe.”

Final goodbyes said, Tonks lingered behind under the excuse of helping get the house back to normal after they’d expanded it for the DS. Her mum, who had never forgotten the time she’d tried to help with the remodelling and created an endless loop between the kitchen and the basement, said no. Just like she wanted. By the time her mom told her to just go to bed, Pansy was already gone and there was no reason for anyone to suspect anything.

"Tonks had to force herself to walk up the stairs. Another thing to thank her auror training for. But Pansy wasn’t in their room when she got there.

“Bloody hell,” she murmured. “Where did she get to?”

The door slammed behind her and Tonks jumped. Pansy had been hiding behind the door, waiting for her.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?” She was wearing practically nothing. “Did the big, bad auror get snuck up on.”

“No. I was just...luring you into my trap.”

“Ah huh,” Pansy said. Walking slowly, extra sway in her step, had Tonks trapped between her and the bed. She hit bed, and fell back.

“That one was one purpose.” Pansy said.

“Maaybe.” She grinned up at her. “Whatcha going to do about it?”

Pansy hopped up on her, straddling her. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“How are your arms?”

“Good enough for this.” She grabbed Tonks’ wrists, pulling them up and pinning them above her head. Tonks played at struggling to break free, taking the opportunity to rub against her. She wasn’t going to go too far. Not yet. 

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun. Drive Pansy a little mad.

“Did you lock the door?” She asked. 

“No. But as long as mummy doesn’t check up on you, what’s the worst that can happen?” She was perilously close to Tonks face as she leaned in. ”I don’t care who knows anyway.”

She moved to close to distance, but Tonks turned her face at the last minute and Pansy got a faceful of cheek.

“Aw!” Tonks cooed, “Aren’t you sweet? Give me another?”

She turned her face, offering up the other side. Pansy glared, letting go of Tonks’ wrist. She pulled Tonks to her. “I’m not patient.”

Tonks gave her a peck on the lips. Her free hand made its way to the small of Pansy’s back, her teasing her by inching her fingers up and down.

“You can pretend all you want that you’re in charge, but…” Tonks broke free and rolled Pansy over, pinning her beneath. She whispered in her ear, revelling in Pansy's squirms “just know that I can get you to do anything I want and I can make you beg for it.

She pressed a slow, soft kiss into Pansy’s neck. “Go on. Beg me to kiss you.”

Pansy, moaning, said, “Please. Kiss me, Tonks.”

Oh yes, Tonks thought, kissing her way up to Pansy’s lips. This was going to be a good night.

“Have you got everything?” her mum asked. They’d gotten a late start, waking up early and getting some quality snuggling in time before dragging themselves out of bed. Thankfully the remaining of the DS proved enough of a distraction to keep anyway and one breakfast and hunt for the last of their things, they were saying their goodbyes.

“Mum, it’s not like you can’t just owl me.” She hugged her. “Try not to worry. We’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Still she squeezed her daughter. “Take care of yourself.”

She hugged Pansy too. “You too. And take care of my daughter.”

For a moment, Tonks believed her mum had figured it out, that someone had let it slip or that she  _ had _ checked on them. But the moment passed and she moved onto the others. She told all the same thing, to take care of themselves and to stop by for tea some time.

“Oi!” Tonks shouted when they arrived at the manor. “We’re back.”

“Then piss off,” Adwr shouted back for them kitchen.. Pansy snickered.

He slipped something into his pocket as they came in, taking another bite of his sandwich. Bond was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea.

“Anything exciting happen?”

Adwr shrugged. “Nothing too bad. There was a battle. Manticores attacked us. We all died. Pretty slow night.”

Bond snorted into her mug. “We played cards. Feel free to con Diggle out of our gold if you want.

“Later though,” she continued. “Now that you’re here, we’re going to want to put up that  _ Fidelius  _ as soon as possible.”

“Go get the others,” Tonks said. “We’ll do it in the ballroom?”

Bond and Adwr flashed them the thumbs up before going off in search of the others.

“The  _ Fidelius _ ,” Pansy asked, following Tonks towards the ballroom. The others were close behind.

“We thought it would be a good idea, after you got captured,” she explained. “You were still out or we would have asked you. And after...well, we had other things on our minds.”

Blushing, she asked, “Is that ok with you?”

“Yeah. But what do we need to do?”

They entered the ballroom, the last of the decorations from their Christmas party still up.

“You’ve got the easy job,” Tonks said. “You’re the secret keeper. It’s your house, after all.”

She took Pansy's hand and led her to the center. “Just stand here. Dawlish will explain it when we're all here.”

She didn’t have to wait long. Bond and Adwr came with the others. Dawlish set them up in a circle with Pansy in the center, using the Point Me spell to get them in the right positions. When the rest of them were ready with their wands out, he walked over to them.

“Did Tonks tell you what’s going to happen?” He asked.

“Only that I’m the secret keeper. I don’t know what to do though.”

“Not much. You’ll stand here in the center and we’ll pull the memories into your head. It’s a bit like a pensieve, if you’ve ever seen one.” Pansy shook her head. “Right. Well, you’ll just have to tell us where we are once it’s over.”

“You’ll do fine,” Tonks said. She gave her a peck on the cheek, before taking her place.

Pansy watched as the aurors put their wands to their heads. Pulling them away, strands of blue silvery wisps came with them. One by one, they pointed their wands and shot the wisps at her. Pansy clenched her eyes shut as they came zooming to her.

When she opened her eyes, they had their wands pointed to the air. More of that wisp was gathering in the room. Starting from the ceiling, it was pushing down and threatening to engulf the entire room.

Pansy desperately wanted to ask what was happening, but didn’t dare interrupt them. The wisp swirled around her, blocking everyone from view. She breathed it in and though she didn’t know how, she took it all in.

She looked around. Tonks was grinning at her. “Told you you could do it.”

“What do I do know?” she asked.

Tonks shrugged. “Tell us where we are.”

“Oh, right. We’re in Parkinson Manor; that’s in Clithroe.”

“Good show.” She put her arm around her, her hand on the small of her back. “We’re going on patrol. Something light. I’m sure we can find a way to kill the time.

“You’re just in time,” Adwr said. “Potterwatch is on.”

It had been a long patrol, but nothing too difficult. Pansy had, after all, just gotten back from being tortured. The hardest part had been keeping their hands off each other. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to not go out together. At least until the new love thrill had worn off a bit.  


Tonks curled up with Pansy on the couch and Jones brought them each a beer. The Potterwatch was more of the same. There had been no sightings of Harry Potter since Christmas and the ministry was still doing a poor job of hiding that Voldemort was in charge. Why didn’t just come out and admit it.

“Finally, we regret to report the death of Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell and Gornuk who were murdered by Fenrir Greyback last week. Our hearts go out to their families as we remember these brave souls who resisted. May they rest in power.

The bottle fell from her hand. The words rang out in her mind, repeating, but they didn’t seem real.

She looked around, hoping to see some sign that she'd imagined what she'd just heard. All her friends were staring at her, the color drained from their faces.

“Tonks…” Pansy said, reaching out to her.”

“I’m fine,” she lied. “I’m fine.”

“I just… I need to…” But the words wouldn’t come and so she just got up and walked away.

Tonks knees started giving out by the time she made it to the stairs. She clutched at the railing to keep herself from falling and even then it was a miracle that she didn’t fall.

She closed the door to her room behind her, locking it. No one was going to walk in on her. Not like this.

Somehow she made it to the bed.

_ We regret to report the death of Ted Tonks. _

She hadn’t seen him in months, not since the wedding. She hadn’t even bothered to owl him. She never got to say goodbye.

_ We regret to report the death of Ted Tonks. _

Burying her face in her pillow, she broke down and sobbed. Memories of him flashed through her head. The ice cream he bought after every quidditch game. Taking her to Diagon Alley for the first time to buy her wand. Hugging her as she stepped off the bought from graduation. Watching her accept her aurors robes.

_ We regret reporting the death of Ted Tonks. _

All the things they’d never get to do. She’d been looking forward to telling him about Pansy and everything they’d done with the DS- after it was well over. She had a brief vision of the four of them at her parents’ place, Pansy snuggled up to her as they celebrated the war was over.

_ We regret reporting the death of Ted Tonks. _

She never got to say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fidelius is only loosely and somewhat contradictiorily explained in canon. The Potters weren't there own secret keepers, yet Bill and Arthur were. Sarah1281 explained it as the spell being not well understood in "Run That By Me Again?", which has been my headcanon for years on the spell. (More on that later)
> 
> I took the basis of the spell from the pensieve, because it seemed to fit. I know that with the pensieve you don't loose your memories and you don't here. You just need them for the ritual.
> 
> The title is a reference to "Soul Love", by David Bowie. The report is paraphrased from the Deathly Hallows.
> 
> This chapter originally went on longer, but I decided it didn't fit. So expect more fallout from this in the coming chapters. Again, I'm leaving the 26 up for now, but I'm thinking there will be more than that. Don't worry, you'll know when it's over.
> 
> Thank you to all my commenters, bookmarkers, kudosers and my readers. Seriously, ever new hit on that counter warms my heart and helps me get through difficult scenes. See you next week!


	22. Fathers and Daughters

Pansy could only watch as Tonks walked away, her arms crossed.

“What do I do?” Pansy asked the DS, who were looking between her and Tonks with concern.

“Be with her,” Adwr said, simply earning a few nods. “It’s the only thing you can do.”

“You don’t think she needs space? I would.”

He shook his head. “No. Not Tonks. Even if she tells you she does, she doesn’t. Trust me, I’d know.”

Pansy found Tonks in her room, curled up as she sat on her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She glanced up briefly when Pansy walked in, but didn’t speak. 

“Hey,” she said slowly, tentatively. Tonks still say anything. Fine. That was fine.

Pansy sat down beside her, putting her arm around her. Tonks leaned in, resting her head on her shoulder. She was putting up a strong front, but when she took her hand, Tonks broke down and started crying again.

Tonks untangled herself from the sleeping girl. Somehow, Pansy had known exactly what to do, holding her as she sobbed until they’d both fallen asleep.

Now awake, Tonks needed something to blow off some steam. Leaving a note for Pansy, she snuck down the stairs and outside to the trees on the far end. Once she was past the anti-apparation wards, she popped over to the Cliff.

Just like she had when she was still at the academy, she attacked the scenery as if every rock and tree were a Snatcher.

He hadn’t done anything. He worked at a new station. But his parents hadn’t been part of their so-called elite and for that he had deserved to die.

She cursed and hexed everything inside until she couldn’t summon another spell and sunk to her knees, beating. It wasn’t enough.

She was going to make them pay. She was going to make them suffer. And if she had to kill every last Snatcher and Death Eater in between, she was going to feed Fenrir Greyback silver.

Tonks rolled over onto her back. Looking up at the stars, she let out a short, hollow laugh. She’d have to find the Snatchers first. They hadn’t been too successful in getting any information out of their hostages. Mostly they didn’t even bother questioning them anymore. Just checking the vitals every so often.

She’d find them. If it was the last thing she did, she’d find them.

“Hey, Tonks.” She looked up to see Pansy standing behind her. How had she gotten there?

Pansy got down and laid down beside her. Tonks pulled her to her, resting Pansy’s head on her shoulder.

“Adwr brought me,” she said, answering Tonks’ unasked question. 

Tonks chuckled again, a real one.

“Leave it to him to know where I was at.”

“He didn’t actually,” Pansy said. “We tried a few different places. His money was on the Witch’s Tit.”

Tonks snorted. “Where is the bastard anyway?”

“He’s having a cigarette. I think he’s giving us space.”

Pansy gave Tonks a weak smile as she walked over and sat down beside her.

“Do you want to talk about it now?” she asked.

Tonks shook her head. She was in every way her mother's daughter.

Her stomach growled. How long had it been since she’d eaten? She and Pansy shared a look and giggled.

“I could go for something.”

“What do you think?” Tonks was grinning over everything. “Should we bring him long or just leave him?”

“I’m not sure you’ve got it in you to get us anywhere and I really don’t fancy the Knight bus again.”

Tonks followed her gaze to the destruction she’d caused.

“Alright.”

Walking hand in hand, they found Adwr smoking, back leaned up against a tree and eyes closed.

“Ready?” he asked as they walked up, still not opening eyes.

“I think so,” Tonks said. “Bit peckish though. You up for it?”

“May as well.” Opening his eyes, he pushed himself off the tree. “Take it I’m doing the heavy lifting.”

“Oi,” Tonks said, feigning offense. “Watch it with that heavy talk.”

After some discussion, they apparated into muggle London, not far from a diner she and Adwr knew well, one of the few places open all night where they could get a meal and a drink in relative peace.

“Mind you don’t get anything too greasy,” Adwr murmured to Pansy. “They tend to go overboard.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

Tonks was barely aware of what she was ordering, much less what she was eating when it finally came.

“I want to do more,” she said.

“Than fighting the Dark Lord and the Death Munchers?” Adwr asked. He sighed. “How did I end up with so many suicidal lunatics?”

He spared her another dramatic eye roll. “Fine, what do you have in mind?”

“I want to take on the snatchers. If we can put a dent in them, that would weaken the Death Eaters. It might even be enough to get more people to fight.”

Tonks glowered and Pansy knew that the Order’s refusal to fight still gnawed at her.

Adwr blinked at her.

“So you remember how I mentioned ‘suicidal lunatics’,” he looked at the clock in the wall, “not three minutes ago.”

As they bickered, Pansy’s mind wandered. The Snatchers. All they’d been able to find out so far was that they’d set up shop in one of the old auror barracks, but since they’d all taken up together, none of them had been back to the ministry. Their old boss they were always talking about, he’d probably know where all the barracks were, but she doubted they knew.

Ugh. She knew what was coming. Another night of flying around the country looking for hidden bases. She’d had enough of that the night they’d gone to Azkaban.

Pansy smiled to herself. That was the night she first realized her feelings for Tonks. That was a night to remember.

Her head shot up and Adwr and Tonks stopped whatever they’d been talking about.

“Everything alright?” Tonks asked.

Tonks...where’s Azkaban?”

“Eh?”

“Where’s Azkaban?” she repeated.

Tonks chuckled. “Well, what kind of question is that. It’s… it’s…”

Her brow furrowed.

“Adwr,” she asked, “Where  _ is _ Azkaban.”

“It’s… I can’t remember. I guess we have a working theory on where the Snatchers are.”

“It could be something else,” Tonks said, glowering into her coffee. “There’s probably a lot of places they want to hide. ‘Specially after we took out the camp.”

“I keep going over it in my head, again and again,” Pansy said. “It just makes sense. We know they’re taking people who say His name and we know that they're still using it. We heard them when we went there.”

It wasn’t a bad thought, she thought, as she mulled it over in her head. But there were still problems with the idea.

“The boy’s said it was an auror barracks. Azkaban was never barracks.”

“I thought about that. Aurors had to have lived there, right?”

“Well, yeah. Temporarily.” Tonks had even done so herself. She shuddered. It wasn’t an experience she liked to remember.

“Wouldn’t that might be enough if you were drunk and stupid?”

“I guess…”

“Our real problem is if it really is under the  _ Fidelius _ ,” Pansy continued, ignoring Tonks’ doubt, “I just can’t figure out how we can get past it.”

Right. That. Despite their best efforts, they still hadn’t been able to get the snatchers to talk.

“Is there any way to break down a  _ Fidelius _ ?” Pansy asked.

“Probably. They’ll break down if the secret keeper dies, not that that helps us. Damn!” That was the problem with magic, the other side could do it too.

“I can try asking Bill. He’s a curse breaker; he’d know.” But it wouldn’t do them any good, even if it could be broken down, a few punks like them, or even the talented Bill Weasley, weren’t going to be the ones to do it. Tonks doubted that Voldemort would have trusted anyone but himself to put the wards up or to be the secret keeper. She explained all this to Pansy.

“So our best option is to either hope it’s not under the  _ Fidelius _ or find a way to get in,” she summed up. “Let’s put that on simmer for now. Is there anyway to attack Azkaban without being able to see it?”

“Not that I know of?” Tonks thought about it. The  _ Fidelius  _ meant you couldn’t find a place. What she didn’t know is what would happen if you got in the general area. After all, if the property was there, and she couldn’t imagine the Fidelius made things intangible to people who weren’t in on the secret, it could still be attacked. The only thing preventing that was not being able to find it. In theory, if you fluke yourself to it, you could still do damage.

Tonks shook her head. It was getting too deep for her. “Bah, we need Bill to answer this. But if I’m thinking what you’re thinking, it should work.”

Tonks hesitated at the door of her mum’s place. She knew about Potterwatch. She’d mentioned it to her before. But she didn’t know if she ever listened to it. She might not know yet.

Stealing herself, she knocked on the door.

Her mum answered the door, looking surprised to see her but not distraught. She would have to be the one to tell her.

“Dora? Did you forget something?”

“No…” She didn’t know what to say. “Can I come in?”

“Is everything alright?” She asked, moving aside to let her daughter in. Tonks went into the living room and sat down on the sofa, before she looked her mum in the eye.

“You’d better sit down,” she said.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she demanded, even as she sat across from her.

“Mum, dad’s…” Tonks ran her fingers through her dull, brown hair. How did she tell her? Now matter what she said, it would still destroy her. “He’s...he’s gone, mum. They got him?”

Her mum stared at her and Tonks knew exactly what she was feeling, because it was exactly what she had felt when she’d first heard it. 

“Who got him?”

“The Snatchers. Them and Fenrir Greyback. He was with a few others when they found them. I don’t know how, but they fought back and…”

Her voice cracked and the tears that had been at the edges of her eyes were streaming by the time she was done.

“No,” her mum said, shaking her head. “They must have made a mistake.”

“Mum…”

She jumped and announced, “I have to do the washing.”

Tonks watched as her mum retreated from the room. She curled up on the couch. She knew how this would go. She’d sit there, letting her mum pretend whatever she needed to pretend until she couldn’t take it anymore and go looking for her. She’d find her mother sobbing somewhere, just like Pansy had found her and they’d cry together until there was nothing left.

She looked the room over as she gave her mum her moment of privacy, checking the door as if she expecting her dad to walk in and tell her to give him the remote. She smiled sadly. It was like being in a pensieve, with all the memories crowding to the forefront of her mind.

Tonks forced herself to her feet. Better now than later, she thought.

Tonks gripped Pansy’s hand tight as the minister spoke. She was only barely aware of what he was saying.

It was a traditional funeral, not as grand as Dumbledore’s, but very much like it. He had wanted a muggle funeral and her mother had done as best she could to honor his wishes. But Tonks agreed with her, given who had killed him and why he’d died, it was important to honor his wizarding side.

There was no one else in attendance as they gathered around the grave, a small wooden box of her dad's things serving as his coffin; Tonks had been expressly forbidden from even considering trying to recover her dad's body for a proper burial. Even the DS, who’d tried to insist on coming, we’re told under no uncertain terms that they were to keep their distance. They were already high enough on the Death Eaters shitlist, especially after rescuing Pansy. No way was Tonks going to put them or, more importantly, her mum in more danger than was necessary by having them all in one spot.

Tonks’ tears flowed freely through her mum’s eulogy, hearing the story that was legendary in her family now how the dashing young Ravenclaw had stolen the heart of the dark Slytherin girl and brought her out of her family’s.

Tonks rambled through her eulogy and in the years after, would have to rely on Pansy’s memory of the event.

Pansy. She still hadn’t told her mum about their relationship, but she must know by now.

Pansy hugged Tonks tight. The service was over before she knew it.

“Are you going to be alright?” She asked.

Tonks sniffed and nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

Smiling down at her girlfriend, Tonks thought not for the first time how lucky she was to have her. She hugged her back.

“Come on,” she said. “That’s enough moping. We’ve got work to do. Just let me say goodbye to mum.

Pansy never left her side as she hugged her mum.

“Don’t worry about me,” she whispered in her mum’s ear. “We’re going to make them pay.”

He mum nodded and for the first time in her life, didn’t tell her daughter to be careful.

“Make it hurt,” was all she said..

“Alright, ladies and gents,” Tonks said, unrolling the map on the table. “The job is to narrow down where Azkaban is. Any clue helps.”

The DS had assembled in the dining room. It hadn’t taken them long to confirm that none of them could remember where Azkaban was. Working off Pansy’s question and the assumption that they wouldn’t be able to break down the  _ Fidelius _ , there best chance was to try an hit the general area and hoped something worked.

“Well, it’s in Europe,” Hawlish said, dryly. “That cuts out most of the world.”

Tonks conjured a wand and crossed out every continent that wasn’t Europe.

“It’s not Britain either,” said Windsor. “I remember having to get an international portkey there once.”

Tonks crossed out Britain, then Ireland for good measure. 

Adwr rubbed the back of his deck. “I feel like it was hard to get to.”

“Well, obviously,” said Bond. “No point in having a max security prison that was easy to escape?”

“Yeah, but really remote. Might have been the mountains.”

“No, that doesn’t sound right either.” Dawlish was studying the map. “How did Sirius Black escape again.”

“He was an unregistered animagus,” Tonks said. She had never told them that Sirius Black was her cousin-if they didn’t already know it was down to not thinking about it-much less that she’d met him after he escaped. At first it was because she didn’t want it getting out that she was part of the Order. Now, it just hadn’t come up. “A dirty great black dog.”

“Yeah, but how did that help? Couldn’t the Dementors sensed him.”

There was a collective shutter. Each of them had had to spend some time in Azkaban and none of them like to think about,

“I don’t think their emotions are developed enough for them. Anyway, once he got past the guards, it was easy enough for him to swim.”

Tonks looked up, snapping her fingers at the DS. “He swam! Azkaban is near water.”

“She’s right,” Pansy blurted out. “It was an island. I remember that much.”

Tonks had to elbow people out of the way, they were all pouring over the map. An island in Europe, far enough out of the way to avoid the muggles that was big enough to house the prisoners of an entire contact and bleak enough that the dementors would feel at home. It really wasn’t much, but it was more than she’d expected to find.

“There,” Diggle said, pointing to the Black Sea. “It’s near. I’m sure of it.”

The brief moment of elation left Tonks as soon as it came.

“Yeah, but even though we know where it is, how do we get there?”

They all share a round of looks.

“Well,” Tonks said, answering her own question. “I think it’s time we track down Bill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, if not necessarily sweet. I base the Tonks' way of dealing with grief much on my own. Hiding for the immediate fallout and then trying not to dwell on it.
> 
> Tonks is out for revenge and while I know that silver doesn't actually have a special effect on werewolves (just their bites), I couldn't resist putting it in there. This is the beginning of the last big mission before the battle of Hogwarts. So expect more things come to a head.
> 
> The Fidelius charm, as I said in the last notes, isn't 100% explained. I'm basing my understanding of it as mainly a memory charm, doubling as a concealment charm. The hidden home will always be there, you just can't see it. The DS are attempting to work around that by trying to narrow down the location. Of course, once they do that, they'll have to work out a way of attacking it.
> 
> Speaking of location, I somehow got it into my head that Azkaban was nearer the Channel and not in the Black Sea. So...oops. Oh well. There it is now.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	23. Fathers and Daughters, Again

Tonks was coming out of another interrogation session with their prisoners when Adwr found her. The sessions weren’t very fruitful. They never were. Stunning kept them in a kind of stasis, but as soon as they were awake, they needed to attend to their needs. Tonks was spiteful enough to leave them suffering until they talked, but she had to give in in the end and feed them. 

She hadn’t been able to confirm that Azakban was under the _Fidelius_ or even that their base was Azkaban, but she hadn’t been able to refute it either. They were right back where they started.

She groaned when she saw Adwr. That look in his eye. There was more trouble.

“What now?” she asked impatiently.

“I’d make a crack about your manners, but yeah, it’s a bit not good. I was out buying potions and you’re not going to believe who I saw.”

“Who?”

“Finn Parkinson.”

Tonks blinked. “You want to run that by me again?”

“Yeah, you heard me. Finn Parkinson himself, posh as you like, walking down the street asking if anyone had seen his daughter. Had a picture of her and everything.”

“You didn’t talk to him, did you?” Tonks ran her hands through her hair as her mind raced. Off all the things they didn’t need.

“Yeah, we a had nice little chat. Not a bad chap, really. He’s in the tea room now.”

“Prat. Have you told Pansy?”

Adwr shook his head. “Thought about it. She has a right to know. Figured we should talk about it first. And it might be better coming from you."

Tonks swore. Every bit of her auror instincts told her it was a bad idea.

“We have to tell her,” she said. “You’re right. She’d...she’d want to know.”

Tonks couldn’t have sworn to Merlin that was true, but even so. She wasn’t going to keep something like this from Pansy.

“Right,” Adwr said with a nod. “I’ll round up the others. Start working out how we’re going to approach him. You go tell her."

Pansy was outside, near the orchard, sitting cross legged with her sketchbook. A bowtruckle was climbing down the trunk toward a branch, though Tonks wasn’t sure what for. But she was grateful. It gave her an excuse to not say anything yet. She still hadn’t figured out how that was going to go.

She watched, standing a safe distance behind her girlfriend as her hand glided across the page. That the bowtruckle wouldn’t stay, stalking what Tonks now saw was a beetle, still didn’t seem to bother her.

“You can come sit with me, you know?” Pansy said, not looking up.

Still walking slowly, still maintaining the pretense of not wanting to scare off her subject, sat down beside her.

Pansy bumped her with her shoulder and smiled up at her.

“Hey, you.”

Tonks smiled back, knowing it didn’t meet her eyes.

“What’s up?” Pansy asked.

Tonks looked up and sighed. 

“Merlin, this isn’t going to be easy.” She looked down at Pansy. “Pansy, your dad’s back”.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Adwr saw him in town. He was asking around for you.”

“Where is he now?” Pansy jumped up, like she intended to go see him immediately, just as soon as Tonks told her where to go.

“I don’t know. We wanted to tell you first in case…look we weren’t sure you’d want to see him.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to see him? He’s my father. Hurry up. We’re wasting time.”

Tonks opened her mouth to remind her that he’d left her behind. But nothing she could say would come out right. She stood up and walked fast to catch up with Pansy who was already heading back to the manor.

“The others are already working on a plan to let you see him.” Pansy shot her a look. She wasn’t in the mood for any complicated plans and their usual brand of paranoia.

“We’ll go find him,” she promised, almost hoping they’d fail. She still didn’t trust him. “Today even. But we’ve got to make sure you're safe.”

She put her arm around her and gave her a light squeeze. “I just got you.”

That mollified the girl, if only just a bit. She was helped along when they found the DS bickering over what turned out to be a decently thought out plan. Tonks and Adwr would go and find Parkinson while the others set up a quick makeshift safe house in Cornwall near a place they’d visited one summer.

Pansy had argued, wanting to go with them to find her dad, promising to be disillusioned the whole time. In the end though, she agreed to be waiting for them.

Disguised as street sellers, Tonks and Adwr apparated back to the apothecary he’d seen Parkinson at. It didn’t take them long to find him, even without asking around. The man was making a nuisance of himself, going up and down the streets of Clithroe.

“Flowers,” Adwr called out. “Flowers!”

He was surprisingly, dangerously close to where they were based at; just one more thing to be suspicious of. Was it a coincidence? They were after all, staying in his ancestral home. Or had they bollixed things up somehow. Had she been seen?

No, far more likely the Death Eaters had sent him to lure Pansy out. She’d gotten away and they were determined to get her back. Tonks gripped her wand tight in her robes.

“You sir!” Adwr called out to him as he passed. “Care to buy a bouquet of flowers? Make a lovely gift for your lovely wife.”

“Piss off!” Parkinson pushed passed him when Adwr tried to block his way.

Adwr trailed along after him.

“You want to buy a flower from us! We’ve got everything. White lilies, purple roses, even a pretty Pansy.”

It wasn’t the most dense code ever devised, but it had to be something the wizard would get.

It must have worked, because the man stopped dead in his tracks.

“Pansies, you say?”

“Prettiest you ever laid your eyes on,” Adwr said.

“And can I see this...Pansy?”

“You might,” Adwr said, joining the man with Tonks close behind. “Aye, you might. You’ll have to come with us, though.”

“Anything.” Finn said. And he said it with such veracity that Tonks was inclined to believe his good intent. Still. This was her girlfriend’s life, they were talking about.

They flanked Parkinson on either side, leading him on a winding road through the streets, lest they were followed. Finally ending their journey in an alley, they grabbed his arms and took him to their safe house. When they arrived, Parkinson was greeted with seven wands trained directly at his chest.

“What’s going on?” he demanded. “You told me you had Pansy. Please, let me see my daughter.”

“You will,” Adwr said. “We just want to ask you a few questions first.”

“Is she safe? On your magic, is she safe?”

“On my magic, we haven’t harmed her,” Adwr said. “I wouldn’t exactly go around calling any of us safe these days, would you? Do you want some tea?”

Tonks led the man to a table in the middle of the room. They’d designed it to look as close as possible to an auror interrogation room. Bond, in disguise like the rest of them, brought them a pot of tea and poured out two cups for them.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

Adwr took a sip from each of the cups in turn.

“There,” he said. “If we have tampered with it, then I’ll get whatever you get. But if it will make any difference, I swear on my magic, that we mean you no harm either. We want the same thing you want, I reckon. We want Pansy safe. But we also want her to see her family again. If we’re satisfied that you mean her no harm, then you can see her.”

Parkinson nodded. “Anything,” he repeated.

Adwr leaned back in his chair.

“Where have you been?” He asked.

“Bulgaria. We have some old acquaintances there. They let us live with them.”

Dark wizards, Tonks guessed. Bulgaria was a popular fleeing ground for Death Eaters and Voldemort sympathizers after the first war. Not a point in their favor.

“Why did you leave?”

“We were held hostage by the Dark Lord,” Parkinson said. “The aurors raided the manor and we saw a chance to escape.”

"But you left Pansy behind.”

“Yes.”

Adwr leaned forward. “Why?”

“The Dark Lord told us she was dead.”

“And you believed him?”

“He showed us a memory.”

“I have a hard time believing that he put you in a pensieve at what was supposedly a dinner party,” Tonks said, leaning against the table.

Parkinson shook his head. “No, it wasn’t in a pensieve. He conjured it from his wand.”

Tonks and Adwr shared a look. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Voldemort had conjured shadows and told him that’s what it was.

“And you believed it? You didn’t check.”

“Sir, I have two other daughters, a wife and mother. I’m not proud of it, but yes. I left to protect them.”

“What made you come back?”

Parkinson shifted in his seat.

“Parkinson,” Windsor growled from the back, stepping forward, wands still raised.

Parkinson held up his hand. “I’ll tell. It’s...it’s just crazy.

“My wife went to a fortune teller. I don’t go much into that sort of thing. I don’t put much stock into it, myself.

“Anyway, she wanted to talk to Pansy, but the fortune teller told her she was still alive. That she was close to home.”

“So you came all this way on the word of a fortune teller?”

“If there was any chance, sir, your daughter was still alive, wouldn’t you?

Adwr nodded.

“You’re not a Death Eater?”

I’m not.”

“You’re not working for The Dark Lord?” Tonks pressed.

“No.”

“You don’t mean Pansy any harm?”

“She’s my daughter.”

“You word, Parkinson.” Adwr pressed.

Mr. Parkinson pulled his wand. The group’s wands flinched. He held up his hand.

“I, Finn Parkinson, do swear on my magic that I mean no harm to my daughter, Pansy Parkinson. I do not, nor have ever, willingly worked for the Dark Lord. I will not reveal any information I learn about her to anyone, beyond letting my family know that my daughter is safe. So mote it be.”

“So mote it be,” Adwr repeated. “Alright, I think we’re good. Pansy?”

Pansy dropped her disillusionment. Tears in her eyes, she ran into her father’s arms as the others watched on.

Sobbing into his chest, she held on tight until she heard Tonks whisper, “We’d better give them some privacy.”

Several loud cracks told her that they’d been left alone, though she knew they wouldn’t be far and that there would still be monitoring charms in place, just in case.

“You look good,” her father said when she pulled back.

Sniffling still, Pansy couldn’t resist doing a little twirl to show off. She was dressed in her normal clothes, firm in her refusal to wear trousers when she wasn't on duty. She was glad for it, not caring for her father to see her dressed like that just yet “Nothing like a little rebellion to keep you in shape.”

His face fell. She knew what was coming.

“Pansy,” he started softly. “I want you to consider coming home. You _should_ come home.”

“But I _am_ home,” she said. “We’ve been staying in the manor.”

She paused and thought. “We may have to touch up the place when this is all over.”

Her father sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know. I was hoping we could avoid the conversation.”

“I take it you’re not coming back.” He'd given up easier than she had expected.

“There’s still too much for me here.”

“I won’t try and force you.” He smiled sadly at her. “I just want you to know you’ll always have a place home.”

He looked around. “Do you suppose your friends will let you get away for a bit? I like to go for a walk.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Pansy said. “Security and all that. But don’t worry, they're not listening in.”

Truth be told, she wouldn’t have put it past one or two of them to try to talk the rest of them into a ridiculous wager, but Tonks would make sure she didn’t.

“How is everyone?” she asked. 

“As well as we can expect. Your mother isn’t keen on society there, so we keep to ourselves as much as proper.”

“And Peri?” Scarlett, she knew, could adapt to anything so long as she could socialize and their parents' disapproval, if she even noticed at all, seemed to slide right off her.

“Ah, yes.” Her father sighed. “She’s not adjusting as well as we’d like. We have to home school her. Your mother won’t hear of sending her to a foreign school, so she really isn’t making a lot of friends.”

Pansy saw the question in her father’s eyes before the words left his mouth.

“Maybe if she were around you, she’d feel better. You know how much she looks up to you.”

“I’ve already told you!” Heat was rising in her face, though she’d rarely dare to speak to either of her parents this way. “I’ve got to stay here. I’ve got to fight. Or else there won’t be an England for you to come back to.”

“It doesn’t have to be you who fights,” he said, softly.

“No, but it has to be someone.”

He lifted his hand to take her shoulder, but she turned away.

“You promised,” she said, coldly. “You said you wouldn’t try and force me to go with you.”

“I…” he dropped his hand. “I’m sorry. I just...I want you safe.”

“No one us are really safe right now, are we?”

Her dad left out a hollow chuckle. “That’s what the other one said.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass ball. With a blue-silver mist swirling around inside it, Pansy had a sudden flashback to Neville’s rememberall. He handed it to her.

“It has a patronus in it. I don’t know if you can cast one.” Pansy shook her head. It was something Tonks had brought up, but there’d never been a good time to learn. At best she could make a few wisps. “It will find us if you need us. Just whisper your message to it and break the glass. I’ll come as soon as I can. Just in case you change your mind.”

Pansy smiled as she pocketed the ball, privately thinking that she might be better off just losing it. 

She hugged and for a moment she was the little girl she’d been last year. The one without a serious care in the world.

They stayed like that, neither wanting to let go, to let the reality set back in.

By the time they finally broke, Pansy had come to a decision. Given that there was no guarantee when-or if, as Adwr was fond of saying in his more maudlin moments-they would see each other again, she wanted to tell him.

“There’s something you should know, father,” Pansy said. “I’ve met someone.”

“You’ve met someone?” He let out a short chuckle. “I’ll admit that wasn’t something I was expecting to hear when I came to find you. It’s one of them, I take it.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Well, which one is it? The scruffy one?”

Pansy snorted. “I wouldn’t exactly call her ‘scruffy,’ but yeah, Tonks isn’t exactly the type of person you were expecting me to bring home."

“Her? Wait, did you say Tonks? Andy’s girl?”

“You know her?” Pansy asked, taken aback.

“Only the name. I knew Andy in school, you know?”

“Really? You’ve never talked about her.” Andromeda Tonks was a favorite topic of Narcissa when she was ranting about what was wrong with the wizarding world, but as far as Pansy could remember, her parents had never done anything but commiserate politely.

“We weren’t close. Different houses. Your mother knew her better than I did. She seemed a decent sort though. Which one was her, the one with the eye patch or the one with the purple hair.”

Pansy giggled and wondered which one would shock her father more. 

“The one with purple hair. She’s a metamorphmagus.”

“I see,” he said with a nod. “Well…does she treat you right?”

Pansy’s nerves gave way to relief. Wizards generally left homophobia to muggles in favor of blood status but still...it wasn’t exactly a proper family’s dream for their daughter to take up with a half-blood from a disgraced family that couldn’t help them carry on the family line.

Pansy melted, memories flashing through her mind.

“Yes,” she said, punctuating it with an emphatic nod. “She treats me well. She even… I’ll tell you that story after the war.”

She’d been about to tell him how she’d rescued her from the Malfoy Manor, but thought better of it. No need to make him fret and reconsider absconding with her.

Her father quirked an eyebrow, but evidently didn’t want to know any more than she wanted to tell him.

“Another time then.” He looked around, as if he expected to see the DS still there. “I’d like to meet her. Properly that is.”

Pansy looked around as well, realizing that she hadn’t given them a way of contacting them. 

She looked at her father, shrugged and shouted, “Oi! You lot! Get back here!”

“How ladylike,” her father said dryly, a pained expression on his face.

She bit her tongue. She could really give him a few things to have a heart attack over. She was saving drinking a beer in front of her parents for a special occasion. She’d have to think about it.

A few cracks later and they were once again in the company of her friends. They still had their wands in their wands, but they were pointed down.

“It’s alright,” Pansy said. “You can put those away.”

“You two have a good chat?” Tonks asked, putting her wand away with the rest of them.

“Yes. I need to properly introduce you. Tonks, this is my father. Father, this is Tonks.”

Her father held out his hand and Tonks shook it.

“My daughter says you’re courting.” It was to Tonks’ considerable credit that she didn’t comment on her father’s wording. Even Pansy had to resist rolling her eyes. Had she really ever thought like that?

“Yes, sir.” It was the first time that Pansy had ever heard the words come out of Tonks’ mouth.

“Well, I wish we had met under different circumstances. I trust my daughter’s judgment, but I’d like to get to know you better. Until then, I hope I can count on you to take care of my daughter during…” he gestured vaguely, “all this.”

Tonks cracked a smile, a genuine one.

“I’ll do my best. She's..." she looked as though she were trying to find the words. "She's special. And I know you're going to worry, but Pansy's good at what she does. Honestly, I don't think she'd make a bad auror one day."

Pansy glanced at her father. From the corner of her eye, he looked like he was even less thrilled by what her girlfriend thought of as a compliment than Pansy was.

"Yes, well...Give my regards to Andy for me, won't you?"

Pansy went with Tonks took that her father back to where they'd dropped him off and it was a bit of bittersweet relief when she hugged her father goodbye. 

“I really wish that you’d come back with me,” he murmured as he held her tight. “But I am prouder of you than I can say."

Pulling back, he said, “Please be safe.”

“I will,” she lied. “You too. Please don’t worry. GIve my love to everyone.”

With one final nod and a lingering look, he apparated.

“You going to be alright?” Tonks asked, draping her arm loosely over her girlfriend’s shoulder as they left the alley and walked down the street.

“I’ll be fine.”

“It’s just the kind of thing I have to ask now. You know, now that we’re courting.”

Pansy grumbled as Tonks beamed at her. That one wasn’t going to go away for a while. 

“Shut it,” she said, but without any real irritation at her giggling girlfriend as they wandered aimlessly through Clithroe, enjoying some time alone together out of the house and away from everybody.

“No!” Tonks insisted. “This is important. My parents never taught me all this posh stuff. I need someone to tell me how to woo you all proper like.”

“Well, you’re not writing me enough love poems, that’s for certain," she huffed with a smirk. "You haven’t even written me one single sonnet.”

Tonks scratched her head. “I don’t know that I could manage a sonnet. I could try for a limerick. ‘A beauty living in Lancs, needed her little arse spanked.'"

"Not here," Pansy hissed as Tonks playfully slid her hand down to the small of her back. Tonks was a little more comfortable in public than Pansy was. Plus, she been around the DS long enough to guess how that poem ended. She looked back and forth. Some of the people were looking their way, but no one seemed to have heard what Tonks had said.

Tonks pouted. "Aw, but I want to now."

Pansy took her hand before she made another play for her bum. "You're hopeless."

She stuck her tongue out at her.

"Tease," Tonks whined. "You peckish? I'll buy you lunch. "

"I know a nice little cafe. It can be our first real date"

And hand in hand, they walked happily down the lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reunion between Pansy and her father was another I've been looking forward to since I started. I just a pity there not a chance to explore a family reunion for the moment. Another time, perhaps. Originally, Brownie was going to be revealed to be alive and return in this scene, but I could never figure out a way to explain why she didn't come back when Pansy called for her.
> 
> Also, originally the previous chapter was originally intended to be much earlier, but it didn't fit with the timeline and only ended up being another delay to Tonks and Pansy getting together. It's just a coincidence that "Fathers and Daughters" and "Fathers and Daughters, Again", whose titles never changed, ended up back to back.
> 
> The idea that Mr. Parkinson wasn't in Slytherin comes from "White Knight, Grey Queen" by Jeconais one of the seminal Harry/Pansy fics. In that, Malcolm Parkinson was in Ravenclaw and he probably was here to, simply because a Gryffindor marrying a Slytherin would have caused to much of a scandal for the first wizarding war for such a stiff and proper family and it would a very different story if Pansy had been raised by a Hufflepuff. 
> 
> I've put it up to 28 chapters and there's no way it will go below that. Again, depending how things go with the Battle of Hogwarts, it might potentially go longer. Next week, we return to Azkaban.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	24. The Assault on Azkaban

The home Bill and Fleur had chosen for themselves was a nice, cozy little cottage a far cry from the Burrow. It was the kind of home, Tonks thought, that if you only knew Molly Weasley and had never been her guest, you’d have expected her to live in.

They were expecting her. She’d owled Bill straight away, as soon as they’d gotten home from the cafe, explaining that she needed to talk to him about a work matter. It had taken him a few days to respond, but he’d told her to ask Molly for his address and that she could come around on Saturday.

Tea with Mrs. Weasley had been a somber affair, with Molly fussing over her more than normal. She never said it directly, never brought it up, but Tonks knew she’d heard about her dad.

It had taken her ages of polite conversation to get the letter from Bill that said where there home was, but she got it in the end and left with the promise that she’d be careful and that she’d come around with Pansy for a visit soon.

“Wotcher,” Tonks said when he opened the door, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tight.

“Been too long, Tonks.”

Bill led her into the living room where Fleur was waiting for them.

“Bonjour!” she said, coming up to Tonks and kissing her on each cheek.

Glad Pansy wasn’t there to witness that, Tonks said, “Good to see you too, Fleur.”

They sat down and Bill wasted no time in asking Tonks about the letter.

“You said you had a question about work?” he asked. “My work or your work?”

“Both, actually. How much has your mum told you about me lately?”

“Not much of anything,” Bill said.

“Ah, well…it’s a bit of a long story.”

Tonks told him everything. She’d only meant to tell him about their mad plan to take on Azkaban, but every passing detail she’d meant to gloss over led to more questions and soon she was giving him a rundown of everything that had happened since June.

“And, so that’s our plan,” she said. “We think we’ve narrowed down where it is. All we need to do is find it.

“Blimey, Tonks,” Bill said after he’d heard it all. “You never ask me for anything easy, do you?”

“I try not to.” She gave him what she hoped was a winning smile. “Will it work?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, he shrugged. “Maybe. Warding’s not exactly curse breaking, you know.”

“Close enough.”

Bill looked like he was thinking about it. Then he shrugged again. “You’re reasoning’s sound. And yeah, if we had enough time we could probably take it down if it’s weak enough. Beast of a spell on the best days.”

“Bond has these goggles. Do you thi-”

Bill shook his head. “You can’t see the magic except on the weakest charms. And then the charm wouldn’t work to begin with.”

Tonks slumped.

“I can go look at it, see if we can’t figure out where it is,” he said quickly. “But I’d start working on plan B.”

Given that plan meant a full assault on a target they couldn’t see and they weren’t even sure was there, she’d really been hoping Bill would have a better answer for her.

“Thanks, Bill.”

She said goodbye to them, hugging them as Bill promised he’d be along soon to help them.

Naturally, the others were disheartened that night as she told them what Bill said, but with no other choice for it, they began seriously considering the possibility of actually attacking it.

“It's physically there, right?” Dawlish asked as they brainstormed. “It’s not invulnerable.”

“That’s the basis of this. If it is, then none of this matters anyway and we’re all wasting our time.”

“Well, hold on.” Hawlish said. “Why can’t we try it out?”

“On what?” Windsor asked.

Hawlish shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Anything small. We just need to see if it will even work.”

Windsor gave a half nod.

“It’s not a bad idea.”

Tonks waved her wand, conjuring a miniature model of the prison on the floor in front of them.

“I’ll be the secret keeper.”

It was much quicker casting the spell this time; they only had to remove the memories of the people in the room. They didn’t need anyone else to boost the power. Tonks did it herself.

“Can you see it?” She found it bizarre, with the shakes of their heads, that she was the only one who could see the tiny fortress. With another wave of her wand, she drew a red circle tightly around the mini Azkaban.

“There. Let’s see what you can do.” Giving her old auror friends free reign to destroy something was like telling them there was an open bar and they let loose with everything they had. Tonks stumbled back to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

When they stopped casting and the dust had settled all that was left of the tiny prison was dust. A smirk curled across Tonks' face. They’d done and one more block was out of their way. Now all they had to do was find it.

But Bill and Bond’s mission was unsuccessful. They couldn’t confirm that there was a prison there, not even that there was any great magic there at all.

“In a way, doesn’t that almost confirm it?” Bond asked. She was still insisting that the place on the shore felt familiar, which Tonks took as a good sign. “Magic is everywhere, isn’t it? The fact that we can’t see magic means it’s hidden, right?”

“It’s not that there wasn’t magic,” Bill corrected. “Just not as much as we expected. It could just be that the area is low magic.”

“Alright, but honest opinion, mate,” Tonks said. She’d known Bill her whole life. If he said Azkaban wasn’t there, she’d believe him. “What does your gut say?”

“My gut says it’s there. I’ve been looking at your maps and you’re right. Nothing else makes as much sense as putting it there. And the things I do remember about it…” he nodded. “Yeah, it’s there. It’s got to be.”

Pansy walked through the streets of Diagon Alley, glad to be out of the manor again for a change. She would have preferred to have Tonks with her of course, but a little alone time wasn’t so bad either. She was on her way to Flourish and Blott’s on a mission, while the rest of DS continued their experiments on their models of Azkaban. 

Azkaban was ancient. Even before it was a prison, it had been a fortress for dark wizards for centuries. It’s history was long and deep. Serving as their new resident Granger, Pansy was out to find everybook on the subject she could lay her hands on so they could find out as much as they could on it.

They didn’t hold out any hope of discovering any of the other security spells placed on the island. The ministry would never have allowed it. No, their main goal was to narrow down the location as close as the could and to get a better idea of the layout.

Disguised again in her Lily Selwyn persona, Pansy made a beeline to the section on history. There was no point in pretending she was just a casual browser. Not when she was going to walk up to the counter with an armful of books.

The selection wasn’t great, with only about five to choose from. But one was  _ Azkaban for the Painfully Thick _ , which promised to be the most comprehensive book on the subject and with which Pansy could kill a man with. In any case, she grabbed all. Then, to cut down on any suspicion anyone might have of a young woman buying half a dozen books on the prison, she selected a few more on related topics like the history of the Aurors and the DMLE. If she was lucky, it would look like she just had an interest in magical law enforcement.

Her arms now laden down with heavy volumes and a new found appreciation for the strength training Tonks had pushed her through, Pansy took them to the counter.

“Oof,” the clerk said, looking at the pile of books between them. She examined the titles. “Doing a bit of research?”

“Yeah. Essays, you know. But it’s interesting stuff. Care to hear about it?”

Pansy repressed a smirk as the clerked mumbled something about maybe another time and hurriedly tallied up her bill. Nothing like the threat of a lecture to keep people from asking too many questions. 

Books paid for, Pansy shrunk them and stowed them. As much as she would have liked to have wandered the alley and do a bit of window shopping, she knew she needed to get back. So she made her way back to the Leaky Cauldron and indulged herself in a quick butterbeer. Despite the best efforts of Bond and Hawlish, she’d never gotten the taste for firewhiskey.

Arriving back home, she found the DS in a flurry of activity. People were running up and down the stairs, shouting things back and forth to each other.

Pansy grabbed on to the first person, Dawlish, she could find.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Good to see you, Pansy. Did you get the books?” Pansy nodded, holding up her purse. “Good. Listen. We heard on Potterwatch that there’s been rumors of a mass snatcher raid soon. We want to get out as soon as possible, so we’re getting packed so we can leave immediately.”

Nodding again, Pansy dumped the books off on their table and joined them. They were going through the rooms, raiding anything that they thought might be useful. Tonks told her as she passed her by, a pile of clothes jumbled together in her arms, that they wouldn’t be able to search all of the sea in one day and that they’d have to camp her. Pansy had always thought that the great outdoors was best kept outdoors, but she kept that opinion to herself as she gathered a few changes of clothes for herself, before joining Windsor in the pantry looking for food they could take with them.

That night, after the manor had been thoroughly ransacked, Pansy showed them the books she’d bought and Windsor made copies of them to pour over.

As expected there wasn’t much that they could use. The book that promised to answer all of Pansy’s questions seemed to feel that the only thing she could ever want to know about Azkaban was detailed descriptions of everyone that had been held there.

“This is a waste of time,” Hawlish complained, slamming his own book shut. “Not one fucking thing we can use.”

“I don’t like agreeing with Hawlish, but I think he’s right,” Bond said, earning a good natured glare from Hawlish. “We can sit here forever reading and it still won’t be any easier taking down the damn thing. I think we should just go looking for it or scrap the plan.”

She looked around to see how the rest of them reacted. Pansy looked to Tonks, not surprised in the slightest that she was nodding. One by one, the rest agreed.”

“Let’s go tomorrow,” Tonks said, standing up. “First thing. I’ll take Pansy to get her broom.”

“Broom?” Pansy asked, feeling the same pit in her stomach as the last time. Why, in Merlin’s name, did it keep coming back to Azkaban or flying or both?

“It’s an island, Pansy,” Tonks said. “How did you think we were going to look for it. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

She put her arm around her waist and gave Pansy a quick squeeze as she led her away and Pansy tried to figure out another solution.

They stood on the coast, the White Cliffs of Dover, staring out at the ocean in front of them. It was a clear day. Clear enough that they could, only just, make out the coast of France.

“Ready?” Tonks asked, squeezing Pansy’s hand.

“Not even a bit,” Adwr said.

“I wasn’t asking you.”

“I know,” he said cheerfully. “But I thought you ought to know.”

Placing his hand on Pansy’s shoulder, he pointed across the channel. “See that, bach?”

“Not really,” Pansy said.

“Aye, it’s far. That’s Calais. That’s where I went after I met you. Should have stayed there.”

“And miss all this?” Pansy squeezed Tonks’ hand back. “I’m ready."

Unable to find any definitive proof that the prison was where they suspected, the DS had focused their efforts on destroying it, testing an endless array of strategies against many a doomed model.

The  _ Fidelius _ charm was even stronger than they had credited for. Nothing they tried as a work around to make the prison visible worked. Not ink, not pictures, not a giant conjured light looking for shadows. The only tell were spells that connected and didn’t fly through the other side.

Once the prison was destroyed, they were in. It didn’t take much in the way of wanton destruction on their part to get the charm to drop.

“That’s something I’ve always wondered about,” Pansy had told her after taking their experiments outside to see if size made any difference. As near as they can tell, it didn’t though they didn’t have the ability to make it full size. “The story of the Potters and how they were able to save Harry before the muggles got him.”

“That’s a good point,” Tonks said, ignoring the awkward phrasing she knew Pansy didn’t mean. It was one of those things she’d never thought about, how they’d been able to find him. Losing the Potters and Sirius had been too much of a blow that she’d never questioned it, even when she was older.

“It must be how the spell works. Once it’s gone, there’s nothing to protect.”

There was one last hope they had, one thing they hadn’t been able to test. It was Hestia who had thought of it. The prison was on an island. If they were lucky and the Death Eaters hadn’t had the same eye for detail as they did, they might be able pinpoint its location by the waves. It was worth a try, at any rate. Better than flying all across the channel casting blasting charms and hoping to catch something.

They were assembled on the cliffs, brooms in hand. Pansy had finally given in and bought one of her own, though she’d made it clear to Tonks several times that she hated flying.

Somewhat to her surprise, Pansy had passed up on the Firebolt. Tonks had expected her to insist on getting the most expensive one if she was forced into flying.

“I don’t want one that goes  _ too _ fast!”

“You can learn to control it, you know?” She ignored Pansy’s skeptical look.

Tonks gave Pansy one last peck on the lips before they mounted up.

“Be careful up there, yeah?”

“You too,” Pansy said, kissing her back.

They disillusioned themselves. It was quite possibly the riskiest thing they’d ever done as a team, in all the years they’d known each other. But the alternative was to fly around openly looking for an enemy they couldn’t see, but could see them.

“Remember your positions,” Windsor said. They’d practiced as best they could, using a formation similar to the one the Holyhead Harpies had tried back in 1763. Seeing a few of his smirking comrades, he added, “shut it. 

“Keep your eyes peeled and make some noise if you see anything interesting. Be ready to fight if we find it. We’re only going to have one shot of it.”

Tonks flew slow as Pansy flew high. As the worst flyer of the lot, it was safer-for her and them-to stay out of their way. Especially with how long they expected to be up there. They had to fly in one group. Splitting up would just risk running into each other. Literally.

Tonks had never been much of a seeker. That had been Charlie’s spot, leaving her as the beater when they played together. Still though, she scanned the ocean looking for any signs of waves crashing against the invisible shores.

It was mind-numbing work, watching the endless blue and more than once, Tonks wished she’d thought to bring a bit of pepper up potion with her. Anything to keep her eyes open.

“Alright, there?” asked Diggle, as Tonks did a couple of loop-di-loops to clear the fog from her mind and to wake her up a bit.

“Alright,” she said.

By the time they stopped for lunch, Tonks had lost track of what country they were in. They were no closer to finding it. What if it didn’t work? They were banking a lot on the idea that there was a gap in the armor of the  _ Fidelius _ .

The DS crisscrossed the sea for as long as they could, stopping only when the sun started setting. Diggle, who had somehow managed to keep track of where they were, led them back to Britain.

While Pansy and the Awlishes to get firewood, the rest of them made camp. Or, in Tonks’ case, stand back from where the set was happening and making sure the ground was clear.

Camp made, Tonks walked to the cliff and sat down.

“Hey, you,” Pansy said. Tonks looked. Pansy, framed by the setting sun and windswept, truly was a bit of gorgeous. Beaming, Tonks took her hand and guided her down beside her.

“Wotcher,” she said. “Not ready to sleep, either?”

Pansy shook her head. They looked out over the water. Somewhere, out there across the sea, was Azkaban. But even with that ahead of them and the sheer impossibility of it, it was barely on Tonks’ mind as Pansy snuggled up to her.

“Do you ever think about the future?” Pansy asked.

“Not really,” Tonks said honestly. Moody would have called it her auror instincts, but even as a kid, she’d never really stopped to think about tomorrow. Not when she didn’t have to. She just...was.

Tonks turned to her head to face her girlfriend, cupping Pansy cheek in her hand. “But don’t you worry. You’re always in it. I’m not letting go of you.”

She sealed the promise by pressing her lips into Pansy’s giving her a soft, tender kiss that Pansy pulled back from far too quickly for her liking.

“Good,” Pansy said, while Tonks was still trying to pull her back. “Because whatever happens, I want us to be together.”

“We will be.”

Tonks wrapped her arms around Pansy but before she could trap the girl in another kiss, Pansy pushed her onto her back and pinned her beneath her.

The cool grass digging into her even through her clothes, Tonks shivered when Pansy whispered in her ear, “You know how I feel about you, don’t you?”

Pansy’s hot breath making her skin tingle, Tonks said, “Yes.”

“Can I say it?”

Pulling back, Pansy looked down at Tonks with her nervousness, her uncertainty, etched across her face.

A thousand thoughts raced through Tonks head about how it was too soon, how much she wanted to say it herself, how she’d denied it to herself for months, how they weren’t ready, how they needed to make up for lost time, how this could be the beginning, how this could be the end. But the one that rang out the clearest was how much she wanted to hear those words come from Pansy’s lips.

She nodded and Pansy leaned in so close, they were practically already kissing. Her voice breathy and soft, she said slowly, enunciating every word deliberately, “I love you.”

Pansy didn’t give her the chance to answer, closing the gap between them. All of Tonks’ racing thoughts left her mind as the electricity of Pansy’s kisses overtook her like they always did. Her body was alive with the softness of Pansy’s lips, the weight of her body pressed against her as they melted together. 

She was breathless when they finally broke three and her mind was in a daze. 

“Love you too, Pansy.”

They were snogging again and the part of Tonks that was aware her surroundings as Pansy slid her hand down her body knew this was rapidly getting out of hand. 

Pulling back and leaving Pansy momentarily kissing air, she said. “We should probably take this somewhere more private.”

Pansy pouted. “But that’s so far.”

Tonks took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, before kissing her girlfriend on the neck. 

“Make it worth your while,” she promised.

“I don’t know, my while’s worth a lot.”

Even so, Pansy climbed off her. Helping her up, she took the opportunity to pull Tonks to her, taking advantage of her clumsiness. Tonks didn’t see how her crashing face first into Pansy’s lips was in any way romantic, but she wasn’t going to argue either.

“The tent,” she insisted, pushing Pansy away, though not before indulging in a little snogging first.

“Too far,” Pansy repeated.

Tonks raised an eyebrow.

“Fine, then,” she said, throwing up her hands. We’ll make it a game. If you beat me there…”

She whispered something in Pansy’s ear that made the girl blush so hard, Tonks could see it in the failing light. She could almost _hear_ Pansy get hot.

“P-promise?”

“I’m not a tease. Well...not without making good on it. Eventually.”

“Deal,” Pansy said. She pushed Tonks hard, knocking her to the ground.

“Oi!” Tonks shouted, scrambling to her feet and chasing after her. “That’s cheating!”

“Haven’t you heard?” Pansy shouted back. “All’s fair in love and war!”

“Have it your way, then,” Tonk mumbled to herself. Pulling her wand out, she cast a well-aimed jelly legs jinx on Pansy, who only made it a few steps further before crashing to the ground.

Swearing, Pansy was fumbling for her own wand when Tonks passed her. She grabbed her ankle and dragged her down. Tonks struggled to break free, but Pansy wasn’t letting go, apparently giving up trying to get herself up in favor of keeping Tonks down.

“Oi!” Bond called, “You two alright?”

“They’re fine!” Adwr shouted, though he must have been right beside her. “They just need to get a tent.”

“I was trying to be polite!”

“You get a tent!” Tonks shouted back.

“I’m  _ in _ my tent!” Adwr shouted indignantly.

Tonks broke down giggling as Pansy finally lifted the jinx and crawled up beside her.

“So who won?” she asked. They were feet away from their tent.

“No one. But I am closer so…” she stuck her tongue out at Pansy. Pansy snapped her teeth at her.

“Pity. Because I was so looking forward to that.”

“Well...maybe if you’re very, very nice to.”

It was Tonks’ turn to help Pansy up and there were no games this time. Just another tender kiss. They were never going to make it to the tent at this rate.

Still breaking to kiss every few feet, they managed to keep their hands off each other just long enough to get inside.

They didn’t find anything the next morning. Or the day after that. They were only able to get about a quarter of the area searched on any given day. And that’ only when the weather was on their side. On the fifth day it started raining and didn’t let up for three more days. At least not enough to give them a clear enough view of the area to make flying out in it worth it. And though she and Pansy kept themselves thoroughly distracted in the room at the hotel the DS had retreated to, Tonks was anxious to get back to their search and even their half-clothed play wasn’t enough to keep it entirely from her mind.

On the ninth day, they couldn’t take it anymore and having played as many rounds of Dragon Poker that even they could manage, they returned to the sea. The condition of the skies wasn’t ideal, but they couldn’t wait forever.

They’d been searching for hours and Tonks was just beginning to believe they’d somehow missed it and they have to go back and search the whole thing all over again when their luck changed.

“There!” Hestia shouted from above her. 

Tonks looked. How had she missed that? There it was, plain as you like. Waves crashing into nothing and splashing back. Tonks smirked. They had done it. They’d found Azkaban and they’d beaten the _Fidelius_. That would be something to remember one day.

“Get in position,” Windsor yelled. “Get ready to drop your charms.”

They formed a circle around the castle and Tonks was pleased when no caterwauling charm announced their intrusion. And why would they bother? After all, no one had ever done what they’d done before. She did another few happy loops.

They’d fire the most powerful spells they had at the fortress, each in turn. The minute the first spell broke through to the otheror the Snatchers rallied a defense, they’d drop their disillusionment-so as not to hit each other- and the fight would really begin.

Diggle fired first, shooting his signature fireworks at the air in front of them. It looked to her as if they would fly straight through, hitting whoever was hovering on the other side and Tonks wasn’t sure she’d have been able to stay in position were it her.

But the spell, like the crashing waves below them, hit the side of the prison, causing the stars to break up and fly out in all directions as the sound thundered through the sky. Tonks had to fly down and duck to avoid getting hit by the stars flying back at them.

Next it was her turn. She’d been looking forward to this.

“ _ Bombarda maxima!” _ She hissed, putting all her will into the spell like she’d never had before, willing it to be the spell that did it. That she would be the one to destroy Azkaban and the Snatchers along with it.

Her spell landed, breaking through the wall. Chunks of stone, now no longer protected by the  _ Fidelius,  _ fell from where the whole must have been.

“First blood!” she called, to a round of cheers from the rest of the Deathly Saints. “Get it.”

She was barely aware of the other spells cast as she waited, wand at the ready. Assuming this really was the base and not just a distraction, the Snatchers would be coming soon. The hope was that they’d destroy enough of Azkaban first and that they wouldn’t be left fighting unseen enemies.

The first counter spell, bright green flew from somewhere above them. Tonks flew up, the sounds of brooms around her telling her her friends were doing the same.

“Drop the spells.” One by one, they repeated around. They were now visible targets, but at the very least they wouldn’t hit each other.

Tonks dodged and weaved, occasionally blocking the odd curse as they continued to batter away at Azkaban.  It was working. The prison still wasn’t visible. Not entirely. But now with every hit, the sky shook and shimmered, as if they were looking at it through smoke and fire.

_ Come on, come on _ , she urged them on.  _ Just a few hits more _ .

“Incoming!” shouted someone, just as Tonks ducked out of the way of an orange curse she didn’t recognize.  Some still firing from within Azkaban, a dozen of them had taken to the air to fight the Deathly Saints directly.

Tonks didn’t try to curse them midair, like the Awlishes were trying, moving as one to try and box one of the Snatchers in. No. She’d learned her lesson from Adwr trying to shoot them down as they fled from Malfoy Manor. Fighting on broomback was tricky at best and risky at worst. And Tonks had a better idea. Picking one to aim at, Tonks leaned forward and flew.

The snatcher didn’t notice her. There was too much going on. Curses and spells were zipping past her. She ignored them.

Tonks rammed straight into him. Both of their brooms shook as the collision threw them back. She held on. He didn’t. The man screamed, but Tonks didn’t stop to enjoy the moment. Grabbing the broom with one hand to keep it from flying away and only just snatching it by the straw before it was out of reach, she cast  _ Incendio _ on it.

Tonks watched as the broom exploded in flames, to the whoops and hollers of her friends. She smirked. One less broom and one less snatcher. Even if they got him in time, they wouldn’t be able to get him onto another broom. A broom could hold two people, three if they were light enough, but you couldn’t go fast. It was mostly done by lovestruck teenagers who weren’t in a hurry. It wasn’t used in battle.

“Nice one, Tonks,” Adwr said, flying up beside her. “Careful, though. I don’t know how many crashes your broom gets.”

“You’re just jealous I thought of it first.” She gave him a wink.

“Hah! Betcha I can get two at once.”

“Aren’t you cocksure?” She called after him as he flew away, “That never worked at the bar, and it won’t work here!”

Tonks flew up. The prison temporarily forgotten, the snatchers were their first priority.  The DS, inspired by her, were charging the snatchers who could only duck and dodge. They weren’t prepared for non-magical combat.

But the ones still inside Azkaban were still attacking.

“Watch your backs!” Tonks called, flying towards the spot the spells were coming from.

Defense spells weren’t her specialty. Adwr always took care of that. But their curses were coming dangerously close to the others.

Tonks kept high, eyes squinting as she watched where the spells were coming from. If they could hit them, she could hit them. If she was lucky. If her aim was good enough.

A blue jet of light flew out from a spot below her. Tonks blocked it, deflecting it back. She cast a blasting hex towards where it had come from. Even if her aim was off, she’d hit something. At the very least, it would help take down the  _ Fidelius _ . 

As one, several curses flew towards her. She’d been seen.

Tonks dodged, flying closer. She needed to get them.

They traded curses back and forth. They couldn’t hit her, not with her bobbing and weaving. But the quick shots they were forcing her to make weren’t landing either. She had to get closer.

The snatchers within Azkaban had split off into two groups. The first were still trying to take her while another had moved to a new position to try and get her friends.

They were coordinating better, no longer casting haphazardly and instead aiming for one target at once, trying to box them in. It was only sheer luck that Awlish wasn’t taken down.

Tonks turned around, looking over her shoulder to watch her as she tried to cast a shield around them.

The spell flew, only to be knocked of course by one of the snatchers.

Tonks tried again, spinning her wand around, desperately trying to make the spell stick. Once again, the spell failed to miss its mark with a well-aimed block.

_ Avada Kedavra. _ She didn’t hear it so much as she felt it. It was only the second time Tonks had seen a jet of green light aimed for Pansy, who didn’t see it, busy with a duel of her own.

She couldn’t conjure another wall to block it. Not in mid air. Not without something to anchor it to. When it fell, if she didn’t time it right…

Without thinking, without even being aware of what she was doing, Tonks cast the first spell she could think of.


	25. The Impossible Spell

“ _Protego!”_ Tonks shouted, aiming the spell between Pansy and the killing curse. Even as the words left her lips, she’d known it had been worthless. But what else could she do? At the angle she was at, there was no way summoning Pansy’s broom to her would have pulled her out of danger.

Tonks raised her wand again, trying to conjure something to block it. Pansy had seen the killing curse now, too late. She was forcing her broom up, but she’d never make it.

And then it bounced. The green light of Avada Kedavra struck air. Inches further, it would have hit Pansy square in the chest. Gaping, Tonks watched as the light flew away in another direction. 

Distantly, she heard someone shout _Depulso_. One of the snatchers’ brooms, with the snatcher still on it, was banished into the path of the spell. She never had a chance.

“Let’s get out of here,” someone else shouted, though Tonks would never know if it was them or the DS, as both sides scrambled to get away from the battle. She watched, still shaken, as the DS zipped away around her and the snatchers disappeared back into Azkaban.

“Tonks!” Adwr called, flying beside her. “Tonks, let’s get out of here.”

She nodded, still staring ahead.

“Tonks?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know,” Adwr said. “But she’s safe. We’ll figure it out, but for now we have to go.”

Tonks nodded again, following behind and landing on the shore. She wasn’t even sure where she was. The minute her feet touched the ground, she collapsed to the ground. On her hands and knees, she was hyperventilating.

“Tonks.” Pansy knelt beside her as Tonks beat the ground, throwing her arms around her waist. The feeling was enough to snap her out of it. She stood, pulling Pansy up with her and pulling her into her arms.

“Are you ok?” She was sobbing. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Pansy said. Tonks still didn’t let go. “I’m fine. See?”

Pansy pulled back, smiling weakly. Sniffling still, Tonks nodded and smiled back

Still breathing hard, Tonks said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Hawlish raised his hand, “Quick question first. What the fuck?”

All eyes were on her.

“I don’t know.”

“What happened?” Dawlish asked.

“Didn’t you see?” his partner asked. “She fucking blocked the fucking killing curse.”

“No,” Dawlish said. “She can’t have. That’s impossible.”

“I saw it happen,” Bond said. “It bounced right off the _Protego_.”

“Are you sure it was the killing curse?” Jones asked. “Maybe it was just another spell.”

“It was the killing curse,” Tonks said quietly. “I’m sure of it.” 

“It was the killing curse, alright,” Adwr said. “Unless that snatcher just decided to fuck himself off.”

“Look,” Tonks pleaded, “can’t we just go? I’m kind of freaking out over here and I’d like to figure this out somewhere else.”

Adwr put his hand on her shoulder. “I get that. But I think you’re missing something here.”

“What?”

“If you can somehow block the killing curse, what else can you do?”

Tonks eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at.

The DS sped back towards Azkaban. The pit in Tonks stomach had been replaced by fire. Even as they race back towards the prison, Tonks felt an energy she’d hadn’t felt in years. Maybe not since she was a first year experimenting with magic for the first time. Something had awoken in her when they liberated the camp. She still didn’t know what. But there would be time for that later. Right now the only thing that mattered was taking advantage of it before it went away.

It didn’t take them long to find Azkaban again, now that they had the general idea of where it was. Soon they were back at the spot where the waves crashed into nothing.

“Ready?” Tonks called back, looking over her shoulder at the DS hovering well behind her. Their best guess is that the spell would work just like it always did, just on a much grander scale. But that was just a guess. Who knew if Tonks would hit them too. The DS were all ready to disapparate if things went wrong and Adwr was in position to catch Pansy just in case.

“Do it already,” Windsor shouted, his voice amplified by magic.”

Tonks lifted her wand. “ _Finite Incantatem_ _!_ ”

Tonks wasn’t convinced it would work. And for a moment, she thought it hadn’t. Then, slowly, it shimmered into sight, as if a fog was being lifted.

If anyone other than Windsor had magicked his voice, Tonks was sure that she would have heard the rest of the DS cheering. She motioned for them to follow her.

She landed on the top of Azkaban, just as had done all those months ago with Pansy. The others landed behind her.

“You win,” Adwr said.

“Lucky me. Stay behind me everyone.”

“I like that you feel the need to tell us.”

If nothing else, Tonks was glad that it worked just so they could destroy it and never have to come here again.

She led them down the stairs and into the depths of the prison. It was just as empty as it had been the last time they were there. So much for her theory that there would be more prisoners here and that there would be a glorious liberation for them to lead. Instead, they were left to skulk further and further down.

“How many times do we have to come here?” Hawlish grumbled.

“Let’s make this the last time, yeah?” Dawlish’s head was darted back and forth.

Even the snatchers seemed to have no interest in the up keep of the place. The floor and walls were covered in a thick layer of dust and the cell doors were thrown open. They hadn’t repaired the two staircases they had destroyed were still gone and as the remains of the wall they’d conjured in their last battle here was strewn across the floor.

“How do you live here and not know you’re evil?” Bond asked, shuttering. “I’m just saying. If you live in a fortress with prison cells haunted by demons, you have to know you’re the bad guy right.”

“You lived in a dungeon under a lake,” Pansy pointed out. “We’re kind of used to it.”

Tonks heart stopped beating at the sound of the voice she shouldn’t be hearing. She still couldn't believe it. She was going to offer the gods and ancestors anything they wanted as thanks just as soon as they got home.

“Point. But still…”

“There aren’t any, right?” Adwr asked. “Dementors that is.”

“There weren’t any the last time we were here,” Tonks said. “I reckon they don’t want to be here too often, after being set free.”

“Be ready just the same,” Windsor said.

As they went deeper, they stopped their chatter. It was a fifty-fifty chance, Tonks thought, on whether the snatchers would actually still be there when they got there. On the one hand, they would still out number the DS by a large margin and they were on their territory. On the other hand, they had been given quite a scare. Maybe they just took off. They hadn’t heard any sign of them.

The prison was huge and Tonks had long since forgotten how many floors it was from top to bottom. Nor was she keeping track of it as they descended. Still, it took them far longer than she would have guessed for them to make it to the bottom. They were in an office, a replica of the one at the ministry, though Tonks couldn’t imagine much work getting done out here.

“ _Ho_ _minem Revelio_ ,” Tonks whispered like she’d done before. The red light of humans shone through the walls. Crowding together, she couldn’t begin to guess how many of them there were. More than them, at any rate.

One quick privacy charm later and Tonks was asking, “Any ideas?”

Adwr opened his mouth.

“That don’t involve Fiendfyre?”

Her partner shut his mouth again.

“Flood it,” Dawlish suggested. “Didn’t Dumbledore do that in the Department of Mysteries?”

“We’re not Dumbledore,” Hestia pointed out.

“No, but there are nine of us here. That’s got to count for something.”

“Any other ideas?” Tonks asked, looking between them. “Ok. Ready, on three.”

They moved into position, just around the corner.

“ _Aguamenti_!” they shouted as one as they jumped out and charged into the room. The streams of water, Tonks's a veritable river on it's own, joined together to form and across the floor, sweeping the snatchers in their wake. It was enough of a distraction that they took out a few of them that lost their footing.

Their advantage was short lived. The snatchers rallied quickly, getting to their feet and firing back. Tonks casted a hurried shield as the rest of them retreated to the cover of the next room. Once they were all out, she followed behind. Back in the old offices, the boys had turned over the desks and were pushing them into cover for them and the girls were hurriedly casting shields and protections.

“Next move?” Hestia asked.

“How did we not have a plan for this?” Bond snapped. She conjured a shoe and tossed it over the desks they were crouching behind. The flashes of light were enough to tell them it had been turned to dust. 

“Because we didn’t actually think it would work,” Windsor said. “No one knew little Miss Deathstick over here could just bring down the _Fidelius._ ”

“Then why did you go along with it?” Tonks snapped.

Windsor shrugged.

“Tonks, put another shield up, yeah?” Adwr ask. Tonks obliged.

“Cover me.”

Adwr, yelling, jumped over the desk and charged at the snatchers.

Tonks and Bond swore, watching as Adwr fired a few spells at the enemy. He only got a few in before ducking back around the corner. The snatchers spells hit the shield and bounced back, but there were enough of them to weaken the shield. Eventually, they broke through.

"That answers that question," Adwr called, grinning. "Your shield's don't last forever."

“Get back over here, you idiot!” Bond yelled.

Tonks through up another shield and Adwr ran and jumped back over the cover.

“Why aren’t they coming through?” Hestia asked.

“It’s a stalemate,” Diggle explained. “They’re afraid of us. Well, her.”

He nodded at Tonks.

“So they're not going to come through until we force them. But we can’t get through either.”

“Bach,” Adwr asked Bond, “can you bring down the anti-apparation wards?”

“Give me enough time, I can bring down almost anything.”

“You’ll have it.” He nodded at the Awlishes. “Up to doing something stupid?”

“Always.”

“We’ll go around the back and see if we can’t make a distraction for you.”

“We’ll cover you,” Windsor said.

“But what’s the plan?” Pansy asked.

“Once the wards are down, we’ll bring the prison down on top of us and them. We’ll know to apparate, but they won’t have enough time.

Tonks whistled. “Good to see your spine grew back, mate. Be careful.”

"That's your job."

They threw a flurry of spells towards the snatchers, distracting them from the free men who jumped over their cover and ran, soon disappearing around a corner.

The snatchers and the DS traded spells back and forth, jumping up and firing off what they could before diving back down again once the snatchers returned fire.

Bond, goggles on, was hard at work, muttering and casting spell after spell as she tried to bring down the anti-apparation wards.

“Faster, faster,” Tonks urged on. “Faster would be better.”

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Bond snapped.

Tonks and the others were doing double duty, trying to keep the snatchers place as the Adwr and the Awlishes were flanking them. She hoped the three of them had kept themselves out of view, because she hadn’t known it was just them, she would have sworn there were more people attacking the snatchers from behind.

“Just a little bit longer,” she muttered to herself.

“Oh shit!” Pansy yelled and the novelty of hearing the girl swear was enough to leave Tonks dumbstruck, only to be shaken out of it when Pansy tackled her.

A jet of flame flew above them, right where they had been standing.

“Oh, fuck!” Tonks shouted, “Is that fucking fiendfyre?”

“Looks like,” Bond said. It was spiraling and twisting above and Tonks was sure she was going to have to regrow some singed hair after all this was said and done. “We’re done. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Working as one Diggle and Jones punched a whole into the side of the wall. Sun light flooded into their escape route, temporarily blinding the snatchers who, used to the gloom of the prison, shield their eyes, giving them a chance to crawl out.

Tonks had to be pulled along with them once they were out and she could try to hide behind the stone walls. She was still firing curses as quick as she could.

“Time to go, Tonks,” Adwr said. Where had he come from? “We’re going to make it to the beach.”

“Just a little bit longer.” She had lost count how of many spells she’d fired at the prison. It was shaking. Just a little bit longer.

“We don’t have any more time!”

“Then go without me,” she snapped.

“Yeah, not facing your girlfriend to tell her that.”

“Let go!” she said, struggling against him as he lifted her up and dragged her back. “I’ve got to take it down. Let me destroy it. I have to destroy it.”

She was shrieking by the end. She broke free and ran back towards the prison. She’d see it crumble before her if it took her until Merlin came back.

Adwr caught up to her tackling her to the ground just as a spell came at them, flying through where her head had been just a moment earlier.

“I could have blocked that!” she snarled.

“If you had seen it,” he shot back. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on anymore than you do. But I do know that we’re not untouchable. You’ve done two impossible things today, Let’s leave it at that, yeah?”

They stared into each other’s eyes. Tonks wanted to argue. She wanted to tell him that, yes, she could take on the entirety of the snatchers, thank you very much. That they had nothing they could threaten her with. Not when nothing could get through her shields. She _was_ untouchable.

She nodded. He was right.

“Come on. If it’s all the same to you , I’ll take the lead. They scrambled to their feet, running as fast as they while making a zig-zagging path to the makeshift cover the rest of the DS had made.

Pansy hugged her the minute she slid into safety.

“Alright?” she asked, panting.

“I’m fine.”

“Just across the channel,” Windsor said. “Nothing fancy.”

One by one, they popped away. Pansy took her hand.

“Ready?”

“Yeah, just one thing.” She took one more parting shot, before she apparated away to safety with Pansy in her arms. Just to satisfy herself. Just because she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, I know, but I really wanted to preserve that cliffhanger. Also, I apologize for the spacing. I've tried everything I can think of it. If I can figure it out, I will fix it.
> 
> Like the Fidelius, the Elder Wand is not fully explained. And one of the many things we're told about is it demonstrably false. Supposedly it must win duels for it's master, but you always get it by defeating the last owner. However, there are examples of it doing magic beyond the what the master is incapable of on their own and magic that's impossible. 
> 
> However, you can still lose battles with it. I had to be careful to make sure Tonks and the DS lost, but Tonks still kept the Elder Wand. She's not done with it. There's not much left in this one, but there's still more to come him.
> 
> I really hadn't to title drop in the last chapter, but it fit and I couldn't resist that one.
> 
> In terms of references, "Faster would be better" is from Serenity and the bit about being untouchable was inspired by, well, the Untouchables.
> 
> Next chapter we deal with the fallout of this.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	26. What Doesn't Kill Us

“I think that’s enough,” Pansy said, but her moans betrayed her.

It was only a week since their failed attempt to destroy the snatchers and tear down Azkaban and since that time, Pansy had rarely had a moment’s peace. It wasn’t that the DS were busy. They were laying low and, to use Diggle’s words, licking their wounds before they took another step.

No, the issue was her girlfriend. It wasn’t something that Pansy ever thought she’d complain about while she was still pining for the woman, but really? It was getting to be too much.

It had all started the night they’d gotten back from Azkaban. Pansy had claimed owner’s privilege and taken one of the showers to herself to clean up. She hadn’t really minded that Tonks had snuck in with her, though she was a distraction, if a delightful one.

Pansy had to make sure the coast was clear before they raced each other to bed, this time silencing themselves.

The morning after a bitter day and a strenuous night, Pansy was woken up by Tonks who had lost neither her energy or her appetite. And for a moment, Pansy could almost lose herself in their lovemaking and pretend the world didn’t matter.

But six straight days of being unable to get out of bed without a wrestling match or walk down the hall without being pulled into an empty room? Well, it was beginning to wear.

“But I promised that I would take care of you,” Tonks said.

“Right,” Pansy said dryly, “bring up my father with your hand up my leg. That’ll get me in the mood.”

“You don’t really want me to stop.” Tonks kissed her way down Pansy’s neck. And for a moment, Pansy was about to give in.

“Yes. Yes, I do.” For the first time in their short relationship, Pansy pushed Tonks off her. She climbed out of a bed before she could grab her again. “

Oh, don’t look at me, like that.” Tonks looked hurt. “I’m glad we’re both alive, you’ve been all over me all week. Love...even I need a break.”

Tonks cracked and snorted, standing up and walking toward her with her arms outstretched.

Pansy put her hands up, ready to push her off if she tried anything.

“Just a hug?” Tonks asked, stopping in her tracks.

She waited until Pansy nodded before pulling her into her arms.

“I keep almost losing you,” she murmured into Pansy’s forehead. “That’s twice now.”

“I keep coming back though,” Pansy said.

“I don’t think I can take it anymore.”

“You can.” Pansy kissed Tonks on the cheek. “That’s what I love about you. No matter what, you never stop fighting.”

“Just that?” Tonks asked. Resting her forehead on Pansy’s, she leered down at her.”

“Well...a few other things. Now,” she wriggled free from Tonks' grasp, “I’m going to take a shower. _Alone_.”

“You’re no fun,” Tonks said with a pout.

One hand on her hip, Pansy shook her finger at her.

“I mean it. Alone. Or I put on my chastity belt. For a month.”

“You don’t have a chastity belt.” She did. It was a gag gift from Scarlett on her sixteenth birthday. But it was more of a question if she could last a month. Or even more than a couple of weeks. Or days

“Want to bet?”

Pansy cackled as she watched the color drained from her girlfriend’s face as she realized that Pansy might just have such a thing.

Pansy leaned over and gave Tonks a peck on the cheek.

“Love you, love.”

And, just to punish her, she put an extra sway in her step as she walked to the door. She could feel Tonks stare burn a hole in her nightie. Tonks was going to get back at her for that one.

Tonks watched as Pansy walked away.

 _She’s doing that on purpose_ , she grumbled to herself. She sighed. Pansy was right. She’d been acting like a teenager who’d just discovered her bits.

“I need a shower myself.”

The part of her with the strong rebellious streak wanted to slip into Pansy’s shower, just to defy her. But she would never break Pansy’s trust. So she gathered up her own things and went off to find one of many, _many_ other bathrooms the bloody manor had.

Feeling refreshed, Tonks went to find the DS. They were back in the war room, partaking in a bit of day drinking as they bickered.

Tonks pulled up a seat beside Jones and took a beer from the case in the center of the table.

“Wotcher,” she said. “What are we up to? A bit of trouble, I hope.”

“We’re thinking about another strategy,” Windsor told her. “If we can’t hit them in another way.”

“What did you have in mind.”

“Well, trying to take their base didn’t work-”

“I still think we should take another crack at it,” Hawlish said. Windsor waved him off.

“If that didn’t work, the next best thing would be to cut off their supply line.”

Tonks whistled. “Hell of a prospect. The Death Eaters are rich. Enough of them are, anyway. What could the lot of us do that prevent their money from getting around that?”

“Realistically? Not a whole lot. But we might be able to slow them down and every little bit counts, right? Take a look.”

Tonks followed Windsor's gaze. The map of Europe they’d used to try and pinpoint Azkaban had been replaced by a map of wizarding London.

“We’re focusing on Knockturn Alley, obviously.”

Tonks examined the map, which had circles around potential locations.

“Borgin and Burkes?”

“To start,” he said. “Without doing any surveillance, I’ve got to believe they’re the biggest supplier after helping get them into Hogwarts.”

That made sense.

“Well, it would be a bit easier than taking down Azkaban,” she said dryly. “So, what. We’ll just do a hit and run? Burn the place down?”

“If it comes to that. I’m hoping that we can liberate a few of their things.”

The Deathly Saints crept through the streets of Knockturn Alley. They weren’t disillusioned this time. It was too risky with so many of them. Instead they were disguised and heavily cloaked. That was one of the nice things about Knockturn Alley. There were enough people up to no good that looking suspicious was actually a plus.

“You ever come here before,” Tonks whispered to Pansy. Pansy shook her head.

“My parents let their daughter come here? Please.”

They came to the center of the alley.

“See you later,” Windsor said. “You know what to do.”

They split off into three groups. Adwr was coming with her and Tonks. Jones was with the Awlishes and Diggle was backing up Bond and Windsor.

They’d identified three locations that they thought would do the most damage to the Death Eaters. Jones and the Awlishes were tackling the apothecary. Tonks had investigated years ago,. It had been one of her first cases, she'd told her.

There had been more than a little debate over the next target, choosing between a bookstore specializing in dark magic and a clothing store where, much like the auror store Tonks had taken Pansy to, they could buy armor. They’d settled on the clothing store on the grounds that the Death Eaters were dangerous enough with the magic they knew that they probably weren’t out there learning new magic and that Voldemort could teach them anything he wanted them to know.

That was Bond, Windsor and Diggle’s target.

That left Borgin and Burke’s for them. It was as much a symbolic target as anything else. An act of revenge. Still, Borgin and Burke were purveyors of dark artifacts and had been since before any of them had been born. Anything that could be taken out of their hands was a win.

It came to no surprise to Pansy, given the name of the alley and it’s place in their society, that there were people out after dark. And, whereas in Diagon Alley most people wouldn’t pay any attention to you, here she could feel eyes staring at her. No doubt they were trying to decide if they were worth following and robbing.

But Pansy wasn’t scared. There were three of them, so it’s not like they were an easy target. And none of the places they were hitting were so far apart that their friends wouldn’t come running as soon as they heard the first sounds of battle.

Pansy followed them to the shop sitting at the end of a lane. In a way, they had it easiest. As one of the older shops in the Alley, Borgin and Burkes had an enviable and coveted out of the way location. Pansy wondered how many of the store owners privately wished they could get rid of Borgin and Burke and take over their location.

Borgin and Burkes. Pansy had never seen it before, but she had certainly heard about it. Draco, she knew, had been there a few times and even if half the things he told her about it were true, then they were about to see some strange things.

“You reckon it’s got a back door?” Tonks asked.

“Probably,” Adwr said. “They have to have some way out, in case the aurors stop by for tea.”

They went around back and just as Adwr had predicted, there was an old rickety door leading into the shop.

Adwr swore.

“What?” Tonks demanded. “You didn’t want to try and sneak through the front did you?”

“No, but you have to know there are all kinds of security charms on the damn thing. Merlin, I wish Peri was here to take care of them. Why is it that you always get to hang out with your girlfriend on these missions and I never get to hang out with mine?”

Pansy did a double take. So used to hearing Bond called Bond, she’d almost forgotten she shared a nickname with her sister.

“Because I can keep my hands off Pansy for two hours,” Tonks said, ignoring Pansy snort, “and even if I can’t, Pansy’s too private to contradict me.”

The two aurors looked at her.

Blushing, Pansy said, “Just leave me out of this. Now quit being an annoying, lazy berk and get us in.”

Adwr blinked.

“As if one of you wasn’t bad enough,” he grumbled. “Right, give me a minute.”

For all of his whining, Adwr was nearly as skilled at taking down security spells as Bond was, at least to Pansy’s inexperienced eyes. It wasn’t long before Adwr pulled the door open.

“Do you have the bag?” Adwr asked.

Nodding, Tonks held up their bottomless bag. They were going to grab everything they could safely move for their own use. Everything they couldn’t they were going to destroy.

Tonks and Pansy had wanted to burn the shop down on their way, as had Hawlish, but they had been outvoted on the grounds that they were the good guys and they weren’t going to burn sleeping people.

All pyromaniac tendencies temporarily left her mind at the array of dark artifacts at Pansy disposal. There was a hand of glory, one of Morgana McAbre’s most usefull tools in her adventures.

“Mine!” she whispered as she floated into the bag.

That was just the first of many. There were bloodied playing cards and a glass eye. Human bones and black quills. Leering masks and even a hairy heart.

Pansy was examining a spiked instrument under the cover of glass when Adwr came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Alright, little dark witch. You’ll have plenty of time to examine things later. Let’s get them stowed, yeah.”

“Merlin, she’s as bad as Arthur Weasley," Tonks said. Did you know she made that replica of their clock? I kind of want to lock them in a room together and see what mad things they invent. Only I’m too scared.”

“It’s not my fault the two of you don’t have proper wizarding curiosity. To think that a Weasley is a better class of Wizard than you.”

They stowed everything they could, leaving only the dangerous objects, like cursed rings and a crushing cabinet behind. They set to work about destroying them as silently as they could.

“I wish we could do more,” Tonks complained as the three of them surveyed the shop, now stripped bare of any evidence that it had ever been a shop.

“We could take his money,” Adwr suggested. “I doubt someone like these two wouldkeep all of their money in Gringotts where they'd have to report it to the Ministry.”

“Good idea. Where would they keep it, though?”

They went about searching and with everything taken, there weren’t many places left to search. It wasn’t underneath the counter, nor was it hidden in the desk in the back room. Tonks had the idea that there might be a safe hidden somewhere in the walls, but no spell they cast could detect everything.

“There’s an upstairs,” Adwr said. “If there’s any money, it’s probably there.”

“One or both of them is probably up there too,” Tonks pointed out.

Adwr grinned. “That’s what makes it a challenge. Come on. Drinks are on the person who finds it.”

Tonks and Pansy shared a look as he made his way up the steps. Tonks shrugged and followed him, and Pansy followed her.

They crept quietly, so as not to attract any attention. Just before they reached the top landing, Adwr held up his hand. Using the same magic he had done on the door, he confirmed they weren’t about to be on the receiving end of some nasty magic.

They stuck together, silently agreeing they didn’t want to be caught separately. The upper floor was sparse, with most of the space devoted to the hall and with only a small number of rooms.

The first room was a guest room and while it would have been ingenious to have hidden their spare gold in there, if it was, they didn’t find it.

The next room was a bathroom. Adwr insisted on checking the toilet tank, while Tonks rifled through the cabinets. Still nothing.

Nor was there any luck in the room after that, the largest one so far which seemed to be another study. And while Tonks and Adwr searched for the gold, Pansy took the bag and busied herself nicking all of those as well.

“What do you want all those for? Hermione’s birthday isn’t for another four months,” Tonks teased.

“If you want to make me out to be the mad witch experimenting with magic, then fine. Happy to play the part.” Pansy stuck her tongue out at her.

“It’s not here,” Adwr said.

That left only the one room. Adwr pushed the door open and waved his wand around, casting a silencing spell on the room.

It was as Pansy expected. It was the master bedroom, such as it was. If you could call something so small the master anything.

They crept to the bed. Whoever was staying there, they would have to be taken care of before they searched.

“Is that Borgin or Burke?” Adwr asked in a low whisper.

“Borgin,” Tonks asked.

Adwr nodded.

“HEY, BORGIN! WAKE UP!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Borgin’s eyes shot open.

“Go to sleep,” Adwr said and stunned him.

Tonks glared at him.

“What the fuck was that!” she demanded.

He shrugged. “Just trying to have a little fun. Don’t worry, we’ll obliviate him before we go. Here, I’ll levitate him. Bet you anything he keeps his gold underneath his mattress.

With Borgin floating above the bed, Tonks and Pansy were able to lift up the mattress-Pansy cringed, feeling dirty even touching the thing-where they found a sack of coins hidden away.

“Well, we’ve proven one thing,” Tonks said. “He’s no princess.”

Pansy looked askance at Adwr, who simply shrugged.

“Beats me. Probably some muggle thing.”

“Nevermind,” Tonks said. “Let’s finish up and get out of here.

Tonks was woken later that night-or, more precisely, that morning- by the blue-silver light of a patronus staring at her. When scrunching her eyes and ignoring it failed to make it go away, Tonks opened her eyes and saw Bond’s lion patronus staring back at her.

“Come,” it said in Bond’s voice.

Tonks nodded, carefully untangling herself from Pansy and wondering if she should bring her too. She decided to let her sleep.

She followed the lion down to the living room, where Bond was sitting on the couch fidgeting.

“Hey,” Tonks said.

Bond looked up and smiled, though her eye betrayed her weariness. “Thanks for coming.”

“What’s going on?” Tonks sat down beside her.

“I’m worried about, Adwr,” Bond said.

“Why?”

“Haven’t you seen how strangely he’s been acting lately?”

“Not really,” she admitted.

“It’s been little things,” Bond said. “I didn’t really think anything of it until Azkaban, but did you see the way he charged the snatchers? That’s not like him.”

It was a bit odd, now that she thought about it. But still...

“We all do stupid, risky things,” she said. “Merlin knows Robbards yelled enough at us for it. Besides, we’d just done two impossible things. I think we were all feeling a little reckless.”

“That’s what I thought at first too,” Bond said, “but then tonight. You told me how he shouted to wake up Borgin. Granted, there were three of you there, so it’s not like you were in danger. But it’s not like Adwr to do it. He’ll always try and curse someone when they’re not looking. If he can.”

“I think he was trying to be funny,” Tonks said, though she could see Bond’s point. She’d been furious about that stunt too. “We’re all getting a little stir crazy, waiting for something to happen.”

That and they were all disappointed at failing to take down the snatchers once and for all.”

“Even so…” Bond said. “I was hoping you’d have a talk with him. To try and see if he’ll tell you anything.”

“Me?”

Bond threw up her hands. “I’ve already tried, but he keeps insisting he’s fine.”

Tonks studied her. Bond was probably the calmest of all of them, not that she didn’t have her temper. It was something she’d always admired about the woman. If she was worried, the least she could do was take her seriously.

“I’ll see what I can find out.”

Bond smiled again.

“Thanks, Tonks,” she said, pulling her into a hug. “You’re a good friend.”

She woke up that morning with a theory to work off and a plan in mind. As soon as the idea had occurred to her, so many pieces fit into place, she was surprised she hadn’t seen it before. It all made too much sense.

The only problem was that she couldn’t run her idea past Bond and get her to run a bit of interference for. No matter. It would only take her a few minutes to prove she was right.

Tonks rushed down stairs and wolfed down her breakfast, chatting with Jones about the Harpies chances as she waited for Adwr to come down. As soon as he did, she made an excuse about needing to check on something and dashed up the stairs.

It wasn’t hard, evading the security charms Adwr had put on his room with Bond. She knew all the ones he liked and she doubted he was checking them regularly for upkeep anyway.

“If I were a potion,” she muttered to herself. “Where would I be?”

More to the point, where would Adwr hide so no one, not even his girlfriend would accidentally stumble open it.

It took her a few tries, but she finally found it stuck with a sticking charm on the bottom of the dresser next to where he kept his boots. A vial of silver potion. A vial of Felix Felicis.

It had been the only thing that made sense to Tonks, assuming she was wrong about him just being stir crazy. She’d seen him slip something into his pocket the night they’d got back from her mum’s. He’d been out buying potions they day he saw Mr. Parkinson, that’s what he’d said. And back at Christmas, hadn’t he told her he had an idea how to make things “go easier”?

Felix Felicis. Good for a boost in small doses spread apart. But taken too frequently and one of the side effects was reckless overconfidence. He’d been taking it for months and none of them had even noticed until now.

“I take it privacy is out of the question?”

Tonks fell back as his voice made her jump. Rising to her feet, she held up the vial. She was furious. At him for doing something so stupid and her for not noticing her best friend was drugging himself.

“Is that what you’ve been up to, then?” she demanded.

“Leave it,” Adwr snapped.

“I won’t.”

He grabbed at the vial as she tried to pull it away.

“Give it,” he said, snatching her wrist.

He tried to pry it from his hands. Tonks fought equally hard to keep hold of it. She tripped, slipping on the floor and landing on top of him.

They wrestled for it. Tonks managed to keep hold of the vial, put Adwr was both bigger and stronger than her and eventually he would get it from her. There was one other option. Wrenching her arm free, she threw the vial. It shattered against the wall.

Adwr’s eyes flashed with rage and for a moment, Tonks thought he was going to keep fighting her. But then he took a deep breath and slumped.

“Bloody hell, Tonks, why did you do that?”

“I’m trying to help you, you prat. Come on. Up you get.”

She climbed off him and helped him up. They sat together on the bed.

“So…” Tonks trailed off.

Adwr shook his head. “What do you want from me?”

“An explanation would be nice.”

“I don’t know that I owe you one. Look,” Adwr said. He looked so old, almost like he had when she’d found him at the camp. “I’m not like you. I’m not a fighter, not really. I want them to pay, but I don’t want to die either.”

“I know, but you can’t rely on it. Reckless overconfidence? Charging a group of snatchers single-handedly? Sound familiar dummkopf?”

“In my defense, my partner can block the killing curse.”

“Point. But my shields can still be broken. So maybe dump the potion and be careful?”

They shared a weak smile between them.

“Fine,” he said. “You’ll let me tell Peri myself, yeah?”

“As long as that’s the last of it,” she agreed.

“It is.” He held up his hands. “On my magic. I was going to go out and buy some more later.”

“Good. I saved you a trip.” Then she pulled him into a hug. “Don’t do anything like that again. You’re my best mate. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then you’d better promise to protect me,” he teased.

“Always.”

It was a lazy day for the DS. Most of them slept late and those that didn’t soon found themselves wandering back to bed. Tonks crawled back in to cuddle with Pansy, only for the girl to get up soon after and declare that she was going to start examining the items that they’d gotten from Borgin and Burkes.

She really was going to be a mad witch one day if they weren’t careful.

It was well after dark before all of them were finally up. Deciding that a successful raid called for a celebration, Tonks announced that she was going for pizza.

“Don’t be gone too long,” Pansy said. There’s quidditch on tonight.

But Tonks did take her time, walking rather than apparating and enjoying the cool night air. The War was on, but she was learning to enjoy the peace she had while she had it.

Five steaming boxes of pizza in hand-her friends could eat like they were half-starved, she apparated back, not wanting to let the pizzas get cold.

“Hello?” she called out, getting no answer. “Oi! I’ve got food.”

“Where is everybody?” she muttered to herself. She put the pizzas down on a table and went to go look for them.

She found them, after calling and calling, in the war room. The room was dead silent, as they sat around the room staring at the wireless that was playing nothing but dead air.

“What’s going on?” she asked, hands on her hips. “I’ve been shouting for you, why didn’t you answer?"

“Tonks,” Pansy said softly. She got up and rushed over to her and took her arm.

“We just got a message from Potterwatch. They want us to go to Hogwarts.”

“Us?”

“All of us. The DS, the Order, everyone. It’s finally happened.”

“What’s happened?”

“Lightning has struck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With us so close to end, its finally time to pay of on some of the seeds I've been planting. More on that later.
> 
> The next chapter was supposed to one epically long chapter, but given who the writing is playing out there will probably be more than that. At least two or three. Basically, once the Battle ends, there will be an epilogue to close us out.
> 
> Don't be surprised if there's a week break somewhere in here, though I hope not. I'd like to get this finished be for November so I do have to do double duty during NaNoWriMo. Don't worry though. I'm not going to abandon this. I'm excited to see this through. I may just need to either do shorter chapters or space them out a bit more.
> 
> "Annoying, lazy berk" is reference, albeit one of my own. A snatcher says it in front of Pansy in "Just an Old Fashion War Song". "Happy to play the part" come from the new DuckTales series, though it would be a spoiler to say who. And "Wake up/go to sleep" is from the Joker Blogs.
> 
> Apparently, "lightning has struck" is only in the movies, but it was too good a line to pass up.
> 
> Speaking of lines, I don't know is dummkopf is used in Britain, but I've seen it in Welsh novels (specifically, Aberystwyth), so there you go.
> 
> I want to thank everyone again who's been reading this week after week. Seriously, you have no idea how it helps me push through some tough scenes and bouts of low mental energy. You're the best.


	27. Lightning Has Struck

The Deathly Saints landed on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, just in front of the Hogwarts wards. 

“Sun’s out, wands out,” Adwr said.

“The sun's not out,” Tonks said. “That one doesn’t even make sense.”

“Whatever. Just do it.”

They didn’t run. Even at their best, Pansy didn’t think they’d be able to run full sprint from the village to the castle. But they went as fast as they could, wands out and making sure they were all covered.

On the way, Pansy explained to Tonks what the message had said. It wasn’t much. Lightning had struck. Harry Potter was at Hogwarts and anyone who wanted to show the Dark Lord what for should get there pronto ready to fight.

They had no idea what they were apparating into, a fact that had made Adwr more paranoid than usual. He was whipping his wand back and forth, looking for the whole army of Death Eaters he was sure was going to pop out of them behind every shadow.

“And you’re sure there was nothing else?” Tonks asked.

“I’ve already told you,” Pansy said, impatience rising up involuntarily into her voice.

“Sorry. Just…” She looked up at the castle as they crossed the bridge onto the grounds. “I wish we knew what we’re getting into.”

She hesitated.

“Should I send a patronus to McGonagall, do you think?” she asked. “I’m going to send it.”

“Wait,” Diggle said. “We don’t know who controls Hogwarts right now. If Voldemort is there, we’ll just be setting ourselves up for a trap.”

Pansy flinched instinctively at the sound of the Dark Lord's name, pulling Adwr’s jacket around her, even though she knew the snatchers couldn’t apparate any closer than they had. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Not tonight. Every servant at his command was already on their way to kill them all.

Tonks nodded.

“So how do we get in?" She asked. In seemingly no time at all, they had made it to the steps leading up the great doors leading inside.

Windsor went up and pulled on the handles. They wouldn’t give.

“Should we try knocking, you reckon,” Jones asked.

“Let me try,” Pansy said, walking up. The doors were magicked and would open automatically for any student or professor. Well, had she been in school, had it been the year it should have been, she’d be a seventh year. If the doors would open for any of them, it would open for her.

As soon as Pansy stood in front of the doors, they swung open.

She looked over her shoulder at her friends behind him.

“I’ve done my part,” Pansy said. “You lot need to start pulling your weight already.”

It was a weak joke, she knew. It didn’t matter. In her months living with Tonks and Adwr and the rest of the Deathly Saints, she learned that lesson well. Crack jokes when you could. Anything to keep yourself sane.

“Be ready,” Adwr warned again.

Pansy hung back letting the others go ahead of her as she pulled the bauble of blue silver mist her dad had given her.

Putting it to her lips, she whispered to it, “I’m at Hogwarts. This is it. If you can, we really need everybody here. But if you can’t…”

She trailed off. She knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t will herself to say it.

So instead, she said, “But if you can’t, wish me luck.”

She threw bauble on the ground, watching as it smashed into countless pieces and the patronus, a penguin, swam through the air and away. She didn’t wait to see it disappear before turning away to catch up with the others.

The halls were clear as they stormed through them. No teachers, no Death Eaters, no Order, no battle. Even the ghosts and portraits seemed to have abandoned the floor.

But the closer they got to the Great Hall, the noisier it became. Whatever was going on in there, they were in for company.

They burst intod the Great Hall ready to fight, with Bond, Windsor and Diggle leading the way and Pansy taking up the rear. The hall was filled with more than Pansy would have expected and less than she hoped.

She recognized most of them, even beyond McGonagall and Flitwick and the rest of the professors. Some of the students too, the ones who'd been in Dumbledore's Army. Neville seemed to be in charge in Harry's place, directing Parvati this way and Zachariah that. The Weasleys were there. All of them, even Fleur. Lupin and his wife. And countless others that she didn’t know the names of, but she’d seen before anyway. Pansy’s heart soared.

The Order was there too.

“About time you got into the game, old man,” Tonks said to Lupin as they joined him and McGonagall.

“I told you before,” the old werewolf said. “When Harry needed me, I’d be there. I see you brought friends.”

He nodded at the lot of them.

“Yeah.” she turned to McGonagall and said, “the Deathly Saints reporting for duty."

McGonagall tried to look as stern as ever and she was more than weary, but Pansy saw the hint of a smile cross her face.

“And not a moment too soon. We’re in need of a battle plan.”

“It would help if you could tell us what happened, professor,” Windsor said.

“Professor Snape has been removed from Hogwarts, as have the Carrows. Mr. Potter is here with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger. They are looking for something they need to stop Voldemort. We need to buy them as much time as possible."

“So we need to stop them from coming in.”

“By any means necessary,” McGonagall said with a nod.

“We’re going to need more people,” Tonks said, looking around.

“Anyone of age can stay and fight,” McGonagall said. “That’s about twenty each from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Maybe a few more, for the older 6th years.”

“What if we lower it to 5th year?” Adwr asked. “That’d be about 180 more.”

“You’re talking about child soldiers, mate!” Dawlish snapped.

“I’m talking about fighting the darkest wizard who ever lived. 17 years ago,” he pointed his finger into Dawlish’s face. “17 years ago. Do you remember that, mate? He tried to kill a baby for whatever sick reason he’d invented for himself and he was only stopped because of some miracle.”

He looked around at all of them, the stress of the past year finally making him crack. “A baby? Not even Grindelwald went that low. And now he’s come back to finish the job. And he will gladly kill every last one of us to do it.”

He slumped and for a moment, Pansy thought he was going to collapse.

“He’s going to kill us all anyway. Eventually. I just want them to have a fighting chance.

Windsor swore loudly, as the rest of them fell silent, the realization of what was coming setting in further.

“What a bastardly lot we are. Tonks, you’re a Hufflepuff, right? Go get them, we’ll have to figure out a way to evacuate them from here. Tell any 5th year or older they can stay and fight. I’ll go get Gryffindor. Who here was in Ravenclaw?

Diggle raised his hand. 

“That’s them all sorted. How do we get them out once we’ve got them. I don’t want to risk sending them out of the castle if we can avoid it.”

“The cabinet,” Hawlish said, quietly.

Windsor snapped his fingers, pointing at Hawlish. “Good idea. Go get it and bring it back. You’re the fastest of us. Professor, let’s wait on anything else until we know who we’ve got. Everyone, start sending patronuses to anyone you think will come. Bond, Cadwaldr, go to the doors and let anyone who comes in. Make sure you get an oath from them first.

“Alright, let’s go, people. We are at war.”

“Hold on,” Pansy said. “You’re leaving out Slytherin.”

All eyes turned to her.

“Miss Parkinson…” McGonagall said slowly, but gently.

But Pansy wasn’t going to have it. “I _know_ you’re not saying that all Slytherins have sided with Voldemort. Didn’t Prof. Dumbledore always say we needed to come together?”

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t have a fair few Slytherins whose parents we’ll be fighting tonight,” Adwr said dryly.

“That doesn’t mean we all are!” She was about ready to stamp her foot in a childish display of frustration. “I’m going to get my friends. Just try and stop me.”

As she ran off towards the dungeons, she heard Tonks say, “No. Let her. She’s right and we can use all the help we can get.”

She met no one on her way as she raced down the halls and down to the dungeons until she came to the familiar portrait of Nick, the thin man.

“Ms. Parkinson?!” He gasped. “I’m so glad to see you’re alive.”

Pansy grinned. “I’m fine. I’ve been away, haven’t I? But I’ve got to get in. The Dark Lord is attacking the castle and we need reinforcements. But I don’t know the password. Can’t you let me in?”

The portrait frowned and for a terrible moment, Pansy was sure she was going to have to find another way in. 

Then Nick smiled. 

“I’m charged with protecting the Slytherins in the castles. In this case, I think I should let you in.” And the portrait swung open. “Give them hell for me, Ms. Parkinson.”

“That’s the idea,” she said softly. She puffed herself as she strode down the stairs towards the common room.

The scene she found in the common room was one she'd only seen among the Slytherins once before. Years ago, the year the Chamber of Secrets had been opened and they’d been confined to their dorms. They’d all been so terrified that they’d be carted off to Azkaban in vengeance.

Some of them were sitting. Some of them were pacing. Some were huddled in the corner, whispering. Tracy was slumped, head in her hands, while Daphne was trying to comfort her. Theodore was glowering, as he was wont to do. Some of the others were pacing. The tension was palpable.

And none of them noticed her.

She smirked. She was going to enjoy this.

“Well?” she said. “What are you all waiting for?”

Once again, all eyes were on her. And you could have heard a pin drop a mile away.

“Pansy?” Daphne said, as if she didn’t believe who she was seeing.

“Hey, Daph.”

Theodore stepped forward. Pansy raised her wand and pointed it at him.

“Which side are you on? Us or Him.”

“Us,” he said, without any hesitation.

“Good. I’d hate to have to hex you.”

“What’s going on? We saw Potter and his friends. Then McGongall duel Snape and then sent all all to our dorms. They haven't told us anything." Tracy asked. “And where have you been all this time?”

“That’s a story for time, I’m afraid. Because we don’t have a lot. I’ve been fighting back. And it looks like tonight is what it all comes down to. Now,” she gestured behind her. “We’re all Slytherins and because we’re all Slytherins, we’re all going to join the Dark Lord. I’d like to think we’re better than that. So here’s what’s going to happen.

“I’m going to march out of here and I’m going to evacuate everyone below fifth year and anyone else who wants to leave. And then I’m going to fight everyone who tries to get into the castle. Anybody who tries to join the Death Eaters, I’ll hex myself. Anybody who’s brave enough to fight too is welcome.

“Personally,” she finished, “I think the Gryffindors have gotten all the glory. It’s about time we reminded everybody who’s really the best in the school.”

No one said anything. Behind her, Pansy heard the dungeon door open again. She turned around. Draco Malfoy was standing behind her.

“Alright,” he said. “It’s time. The Dark Lord has orders for us. L…”

He trailed off when he saw her.

“Pansy.”

“Draco.”

He reached for his wand. He wasn’t quick enough. As soon as he moved his hand, Pansy stunned him.

“You never were that smart,” she said, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to hear her. She turned back to gaping Slytherins. “Well? Who are you going to follow? Me or him?”

Daphne rose to her feet, walked over to her and hugged her best friend tight.

“Good to have you back.”

Letting go, Daphne faced their housemates. “You heard her. The Dark Lord’s attacking our home. Let’s make him regret it.”

Tracy was the next to join them, hugging Pansy as well.

“We’ll follow you.”

Next was Theodore, pushing himself off the wall he’d been leaning against. Then came Millicient. One by one, all of the upper years had gathered. The only one who didn't were the ones who weren't there. The one who she knew had joined Voldemort. Pansy hoped her face didn’t betray her relief. She hadn’t, truly, expected all of them to want to fight. At least not just like that.

“What should we do with him?” Blaise asked, nodding at the still stunned form of Draco Malfoy.”

“Leave him,” Pansy said. “We don’t have time to worry about him and he can’t do anything like that anyway. Go get the younger boys out. Daphne, get the girls. The rest of you follow me. We need to make sure the halls are safe for them.”

Tonks raced down the Halls towards the kitchens and Hufflepuff House. Once they got everybody out, Hogwarts was going to be locked down tighter than anywhere short of King Arthur’s tomb on Avalon. McGonagall was already activating the castle’s defenses, just in case the Death Eaters got there quicker than they expected.

It had been years since Tonks had been back to visit her old house, the last time by special request of Madame Sprout to speak to the students after she’d made auror. Still, she was barely aware of her surroundings until she got to the barrels that marked the entrance.

It was lucky for her that she was in Hufflepuff. No password, no rubbish riddle that Diggle was going to have to solve. And Morgana knew how Windsor was going to talk his way past his portraits portraits. No. Once a ‘Puff, always a ‘Puff. All she had to was tickle the pear in the right spot and she was in.

The common room was deserted when she found it. Good, that meant they were hiding. 

Casting sonorous on herself, she said, gently, “Hufflepuffs. I’m auror Tonks. I’m here, because McGonagall asked me to get you.”

A moment later, a boy and girl, the seventh year prefects appeared from the hall that led to the dorms. Their wands were raised, even though their hands were shaking.

“We're not going to let you get the others,” the boy said, his voice as shaky as his hand.”

“I’m here to help,” Tonks said, raising her hands in surrender.

“How can we trust you,” the girl snapped.

“I’m one of you, aren’t I? I got the right pear.

The boy and the girl shared a look with each other, but they didn’t lower their wands.

“I’ll swear an oath,” Tonks said. “On my magic, I mean you no harm. I’m here to evacuate the younger students and recruit any of the older students who wish to fight. I swear that I will not attack anyone, save for the people who attack me, my comrades or the school. So mote it be.”

It was flowerier than Tonks would have normally said, but it was important to to be precise with an oath, especially one that might lose her her magic.

“So mote it be,” they said in unison, finally lowering their wands.

“I’m Tonks,” she said, “What’re your names?”

“Janine. Janine Terry,” said the girl.

“Michael Chester,” said the boy.

Shaking both of their hands in turn, Tonks said. “Let’s get the kiddos out. Start with the 7th years first and work your way down. Anyone down to 5th year who wants to fight, send to me. Anyone younger or who doesn’t want to fight, keep with you. One we’re sorted, we’ll protect the path for you to the great hall.

Michael Chester or maybe just the boys in general were quicker on the ball, with about 10 of them coming down, followed by their opposite of the number of the girls. Then the 6th years. Then the 5th years. As near as she could tell, if the numbers had stayed constant, that was all of them.

“Alright, our job is to get the younger ones down to the Great Hall in one piece. We think the castle is safe, but that’s not a promise. We’ve got to keep our eyes open. Fifth years, watch the front with me, but stay behind.” She gripped her wand, whatever was going on with her wand, she hoped it didn’t pick that night to go back to normal. “Let me handle it.

“Seventh years, you take the back. Partner up. The one in the back, you keep your hands on the person front of you, but don’t take your eyes off the back. No matter what. Those of you in front, you’re going to be their eyes. Sixth years, you’re watching our sides. Girls, watch the left. Boys, you’ve got the right.”

She looked them square in the eyes. “I need you to understand this and it’s terrible that I’ve got to tell you. This is the war. The time for stunners is over. If you see a Death Eater, hex to kill. Don’t wait for them, tonight you shoot first. They’re trying to kill you. Try to kill them first.”

Tonks was close to tears. And not only from the fear and the sorrow that came from seeing kids getting ready to fight a war.

“I can’t tell you how proud of my house I am tonight. Back in my day, they told me Hufflepuff was a load of duffers. I’ll bet it’s the same, isn’t it.” There were nods and a few wry smiles. The younger students had joined them now.

“Well, don’t listen to them. You’re heroes. And tonight we’re going to prove it. Ready?”

They crept through the halls. The students had taken to their roles like an ashwinder to a fireplace, a miracle given how spotty their teaching had been of Defense Against the Dark Arts had been. Tonks was careful to stay out in front. If any Death Eaters had breached the castle, she’d be ready for them.

The first corner she came to, Tonks thought her racing heart was going to stop. Holding her hand to stop the small battalion of Hufflepuffs behind her, she took a few tentative steps out, giving herself a small enough gap that she could still dive back behind the corner if she was fired upon.

Even when nothing happened, she still walked slowly. She was halfway down the hall before she motioned for them to follow her.

It was equally nerve wracking when they came to the first steps. Thankfully, they only had the one. It was a relatively straight shot between Hufflepuff House and the Great Hall. They were nearly right underneath it. Again her thoughts turned to Windsor and Diggle, heading up to their towers. If their lot ran into trouble...

She shook herself, physically forcing the thoughts from her head. They were alright. Pansy was alright. Somehow, they were all going to get out of this.

The Hufflepuffs were the first to arrive back at the Great Hall. That wasn’t really unexpected, but still...Tonks fretted, glancing every few seconds back to the entrance, willing Pansy to arrive, hoping to see the others. Her heart leapt every time the door opened only to sink when it was more people answering the call, relieved as she was to have every wand they could.

“Tonks!” A woman called, one of the new arrivals. Tonks had seen her arrive with two others, but as she wasn’t Pansy, Tonks’ eyes had passed over her, returning to the hurried planning.

Tonks looked over to see an older black haired woman waved animatedly as she strode over with the couple with her. Tonks didn’t recognize her, but she recognized the man with her. Even without her parents with her, Tonks would have figured it out eventually. There was a certain family resemblance.

“It’s so good to see you again!” Scarlett Parkinson said, squeezing Tonks tight.

“You too.” She pulled from her grasp and nodded at Mr. Parkinson and his wife.

“Good to see again,” she said. “Pansy sent for you, then?

“Where is she? Is she alright?”

“She’s fine,” she said, hoping it was true. “She just went to get the Slytherins.”

Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson didn’t look relieved.

“What’s the situation like outside?” she asked. The people they sent to the towers hadn’t sent back any word that the Death Eaters were amassing, but they had to be coming.

“Hogsmeade is deserted,” Mrs. Parkinson said. “That’s all we know. I’m going to find Pansy!”

“Got it!” Hawlish called, running across the hall ahead of Windor and Diggle who'd finally made it back with they're houses.

“About time!” Once the younger students we’re out, she’d feel better. One less thing they’d have to worry about.

They rounded up the Hufflepuff students leading them through the enlarged cabinet Hawlish set up, youngest first. More than one of them tried to argue and stay behind to fight, only the commanding presence of Professor McGonagall got them all out.

The Ravenclaws were easier to get through to the cabinet, the Gryffindors considerably harder. 

“Who’s going to watch them?” Hawlish asked. “We’re not sending Filch with them, are we?”

“We’d come back and find everything covered with blood,” Windsor said. “Eithers’.”

“We could send the house elves,” Jones suggested. “We can’t keep them here. They won’t fight without orders and we can’t force them to fight.

“Good thinking ” a familiar gruff voice said behind her.

Tonks whirled around. Staring back at her was Mad-Eye Moody.

“Mad-Eye!”

She threw his arms around him.

“Not so mad anymore.”

Tonks pulled back. He’s famous eye was gone, now replaced by a simple leather eye patch.

“Bloody hell, Moody. Where the hell have you been?”

“Fighting, same as you. You did good at the camp,” he said. Though, he continued, his mouth twisted into a grin, “You still needed bailing out.”

“That was you?”

“That was us.” He jerked his head behind him to the man he’d come with.

Tonks felt the blood drain from her face as she stumbled back and tried to grab for support that wasn't there. The tall, thin man was far older than any picture she’d ever seen of him, but he still had the same impish quality about his face that had looked back at her in her history textbooks.

Moody was back and he’d brought Gellert Grindelwald with him.

The rest of the DS recognized him at almost the same moment she did and had their wands out and pointed at him in an instant.

“Holster your bloody wands,” Moody growled. “Don’t you think I’d have killed him by now if he was against us? And we’ve already been cleared at the door.”

“Peace, mein friend, peace,” Grindelwald said, putting his hand on Moody’s shoulder. “Your friends are right to mistrust me.”

As unnerving as the sight of him, the light pitch and softness of his voice, from the mouth of arguably the darkest wizard of living memory was downright creepy.

“Why I’m here is a long story. Suffice it to say, I owe it to Albus’ memory to try and undo some of the damage I’ve done. For the greater good. Voldemort needs to be stopped. If you’ll permit me, you have my wand.”

He gave them a deep bow.

Windsor looked at Tonks, who just threw up her hands and shrugged.

“Why the hell not? Everyone else is here tonight. And he _is_ with Moody.”

“Fine, but I want you to stay with Moody,” he told Grindelwald. The reality, Tonks was sure, that he’d just barked orders at a former dark lord would hit him later. Right now they had other problems.

“We’ve got people in the towers. We'll need more,” Windsor was saying. “The major ones. Get them brooms, if you can. They might have to fight off an air attack. The bulk of us should stay by the front. That’s the most likely point of entry. I assume you’ve got the secret passages closed?”

“The ones we know about,” McGonagall said.

“Nothing we can do about the ones we don’t know about,” he said dryly. “Are we missing anything?”

The old professor was interrupted from answering by the doors to the Great Hall openeingagain. The Slytherins were there.

Tonks couldn’t hold Pansy tight enough when she ran over as the others got the younger ones evacuated.

“What kept you,” Tonks asked. “The Slytherin Dungeons aren’t that far, are they?”

“Draco showed up and I had to hex him. He had a few of his gang waiting for us, so we had to take care of them too. Some of them got...enthusiastic about making sure they wouldn’t cause any trouble. Oh, don’t look at me like that. We didn’t kill them. They just won’t be getting out anytime soon.”

Pansy squeaked, looking over Tonks’ shoulder and seeing who was standing next to Moody.

“Tonks,” she whispered. “Is that...Is that...Grindelwald?”

“Yeah, he’s on our side. It’s a whole thing, but we need someone that powerful right now.”

“Glad you’re safe,” she said. “Your parent’s are here. Scarlett too. Go on. I’ll take care of getting the kids out.”

With the help of two older Slytherin girls who introduced themselves as Daphne and Tracey, they herded the last of the students out of the castle and to the relative safety of the manor.

“What should we do with the cabinet?” Tonks asked. If they left it there, it would give them an escape route. On the other hand, it gave the Death Eaters of a way of getting to them. They’d have to recognize it.

“Stow it,” Windsor said. “From what I remember from last year, it’s bloody difficult to destroy and we don’t have time for it.”

“They’re here,” Adwr said. Panting, he must have run full speed from the doors, Bond close behind him. “They’ve come.”

“You saw them?”

Adwr nodded. “They’re apparating into Hogsmeade. They’ve got the Dark Mark up.”

Windsor swore. “I hope you didn’t seal the door. McGonagall reminded me of something. The bridge.”

The bridge. So magnificent was the castle, that the wooden bridge leading to the castle hardly registered. But it was the main way to the castle. And if they could destroy it…

“I reckon they’ll find a way over anyway,” Dawlish said. 

“Yeah, but it’ll slow them down. Somebody will have to go and do it, though.

“I’ll go,” a handsome young man said, dressed in Gryffindor robes.

“And who are you?” Windsor asked.

“Neville. Neville Longbottom.”

Neville. Tonks knew of him more than she knew him. His parents were legends among the auror offices, even beyond their fate.

“It’ll be dangerous,” Bond warned. “No one we’ll blame you if you want to rethink that.

The boy-man-didn’t hesitate before saying, “I’ll do it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Adwr said. At the looks he got from the DS, he shrugged and said, “May as well, I wasn’t going to make it through the night anyway. Tonks, if I die, it’s your fault.”

He smiled weakly, sadly, at her. “Peri…”

He pulled the witch to him, kissing her hard.

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

 _“I know that you are preparing to fight.”_ The voice boomed throughout the room, the voice itself was high-pitched and saw spoken. Tonks felt the color drain from her face. She’d never, she realized, ever heard the man speak. But there was only one person it could be.

Lord Voldemort.

_“Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.”_

Grindelwald and said something in German that Tonks guessed wasn’t complimentary.

“I think that’s our cue,” Adwr said to Neville. He turned to Grindelwald. “This is your second war. Any advice for our first?”

“Mein friend, I’ve been imprisoned for more than years. But war hasn’t changed much, I think,” Grindelwald said. “My advice is the same. Keep yourself alive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's a lot that brought us to this moment, both in universe at out of universe. Before the last two books came out, I had a lot of ideas (as most people did) of how the final battle would go down. Many of those became the ideas for fics that never got beyond the planning stages. Some of those ideas fell away as my focus changed to other things in the universe (this and an eventual Harry/Pansy fic will probably be the only time I tell a full-length war story). So the ideas that stuck with me are going here.
> 
> I've read another fic where Grindelwald comes back to help Harry (well, more than one, but Harry/Tonks one in particular whose title escapes me) and I always loved the idea. This story was always about how Pansy grew from a minor antagonist to something more heroic. Having Grindelwald follow through on the remorse Dumbledore said he felt fit with that idea. It's also the reason Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott, both sons of a Death Eaters, were asked by Pansy to fight.
> 
> I'm also excited to finally have Scarlett finally on screen, having developed her along with the rest of Pansy's family as part of her backstory. She's gotten passing mentions, but this is the first time I've actually had her as a character.
> 
> Both her and Grindelwald will get more screen time next chapter, where the battle will begin.
> 
> There are a few references. The Slytherin portrait is a riff off an old series of movies, The Thin Man. The idea that the doors will open for students is from "A Black Comedy" by nonjon, though it may be something from the books I don't remember. Windsor saying "We are at war," comes from Doctor Who. Adwr echo's Neville's belief from the movie that he won't survive the battle. And Voldemort's lines come directly from The Deathly Hallows books.
> 
> Thank you all for reading!


	28. Keep Yourself Alive

“Do we have any brooms in the castle?” Windsor asked McGonagall.

“Some of the students keep their brooms in their dorms. The school has some stored by the pitch.”

Windsor pointed to two people, sending them to summon the brooms with the strict instructions to lock the doors as soon as they got them.

“Tonks,” Windsor asked, “an you go to the towers? We’d need as many flyers as we can.”

Tonks glanced at Pansy. She was the flyer, Pansy wasn’t.

“Yeah, give me a minute.”

Taking Pansy by the hand, she led her away to a spot where they could almost have privacy.

“Pansy-”

“This is the part where you tell me you love me isn’t?” Tonks opened her mouth to answer, but Pansy stole the moment and stole a kiss.

“Tell me when you get back, ok?”

Swallowing and setting her jaw, Tonks nodded.

She was almost all the way up the stairs when Pansy called after her.

“I love you, Tonks!” Pansy was loud and strong and brave, but the barest hint of a tremble crept through it all.

Tonks turned and smiled.

“Tell me when I get back.

The race to the tower was the fastest Tonks had ever made in her life and she was more than winded by the time they reached the steps. A chill ran down her spine as they climbed the steps of the astronomy tower. The last time she had been there had been nearly a year ago. The night that Draco had gotten the Death Eaters into the castle. The night Dumbledore had died. If she closed her eyes, she was sure she would still be able to hear that battle, the wounds were still so fresh.

A group of others were already up there. Lupin and Emmeline Vance were the first she saw. She gave her housemate a big hug.

“Where’s the sprog at?” she asked.

“Ally’s with my mum,” Emmeline said. “We can’t not be here.”

Tonks looked out over the castle walls. The Dark Lord’s army was amassing and not just the Death Eaters and the Snatchers. She felt rather than saw the Dementors that were creating the mist that was blocking much of the view. Through the fog half a dozen or so giants were marching forward.

Tonks swore. How had they not been the first thing she’d seen?

“Think he’s got enough,” she said.

Lupin sniffed the air.

“It’s more than that. I got a glimpse of a vampire down there and the smell… He’s got every dark creature in Europe down there.”

“It’s all going to come down to this, isn’t it?” Tonks glanced over. Emmeline was clutching her husband’s hand as she looked down upon the enemy.

“If it isn’t,” Lupin said soberly, “I don’t think I want to see what it does come down to. He’s staking everything on getting inside the castle.”

“And Harry didn’t tell you what he’s been doing, has he?”

Lupin shook his head. “Something Dumbledore asked him to do, that’s all I know.”

“Is it true that he’s in the castle?”

“That’s what they say, but I haven’t seen him.”

The old werewolf looked down sadly at her. 

“He’ll be alright,” Tonks promised. “We’ll get through this.”

Tonks was distracted by more wizards coming up carrying the brooms that Windsor had sent for. She took hers, an old silver arrow she thought she might have used when she was taking flying lessons herself. She fiddled with it, out of nerves and to get a feel of it.

“What’s that now?” Lupin said.

Tonks squinted, following Lupin’s finger. He was pointing to the bridge.

“I don’t see anything,” Tonks said, shaking her head.

“There are two people down there. They’re coming from our side.”

“That’ll be Adwr and Neville. Windsor sent them to destroy the bridge.”

“It looks like they’re going to the middle of it.”

Tonks strained her eyes, but her eyes were nowhere nearly as good as Lupin’s and soon the fog of the dementors blocked what little view she had.

Whatever they were doing, it had attracted the attention of a group of Snatchers. They charged towards the bridge, disappearing behind the fog.

A moment later, the stone bridge exploded.

Tonks stumbled back. Looking desperately, her eyes almost aching with the effort, she tried to see through the mist.

“What’s happening? She asked. “Remus, tell me you can see them.”

“The fog’s too thick, Tonks. They,” Lupin said, in the same tone she’d used on him earlier. “They got out. I know they did.”

“Here we go,” Hawlish said, pointing.

To her dying days, the sight of Death Eaters flying unaided was something that was going to give her nightmares.

They didn’t bother with masks and Tonks saw the faces of witches and wizards who’s wanted posters still adorned some walls in the ministry.

Mounting her broom, Tonks pushed off, taking to the air.

The Death Eaters weren’t long in getting to them. Some of them, to Tonks’ surprise, were on broomsticks. Maybe only some of them could fly or maybe it was some honor Voldemort had bestowed upon them. It didn’t matter. Tonks channeled the teenage girl who thought she was going to be the star chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and flew through the sky, dodging spells like a pitch filled with angry bludgers with wands.

She soon gave up the idea of trying to curse them. Not with a super wand. It hadn’t worked any better than it did at Azkaban. She nearly took out Emmeline with a stray stunner. Well, ramming them had worked so well the last time. But Adwr was right. No broom can last that long with multiple crashes.

Fixing her eyes on Crabbe the Elder, Tonks leaned in and sped forward. She was in a collision course with the mountain of a man, playing chicken and not breaking course until it was almost too late.

When she finally pulled out, she reached out and grabbed his broom as she passed. Charlie Weasley would be proud when she told him. It had been a miracle they’d found a broom to lift Crabbe’s bulk and Tonks was just enough to throw him off balance.

Shaking her aching wrist as she watched him tumble below.

“Nice one, Tonks!” someone called. She didn’t catch who, already scoping out her next target.

Anton Dolohov was dueling with Remus. Without the need to maneuver a broom, he had him on the ropes.

Tonks aimed for him, nearly getting him before he pulled up. He’d seen her. Breaking off his duel with Lupin to fly after her.

Turning around, Tonks charged him again. Once again, he dodged her. She tried again. This time the Death Eater just hovered there, aiming for her and firing a killing curse at her. Had she time, she could have blocked it, but she was too close. She pulled left before the spell could hit her.

He wasn’t going to go down as easy as Crabbe. She needed a new plan. Charging towards him one last time, Tonks zipped past him.

She looked over her shoulder. It had worked. She’d pissed Dolohov off enough that he’d given up trying to murder Lupin and was following her.

Tonks weaved through the battle, leading the Death Eater through it. She had no real plan, only the vague idea that maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to lure him into the path of a stray spell.

Of course, there was also the risk that she’d be the one hit.

A broom pulled up beside her and her instincts had her try to pull into it until she saw who it was.

“Hey, Hawlish. How’s life?”

“Oh, you know. Kind of boring. You’ve picked up a couple more tails.”

Tonks looked back over her shoulder and swore. Two more Death Eaters, also flying on their own, had joined with Dolohov.

“Lovely.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Hawlish said.

“Yeah?”

“Care to see if the Wronkski Feint works on these bastards?”

“Love to.”

As one, Tonks and Dawlish flew. Tonks fought to keep herself from looking back over at them, convinced that there was no way they’d be stupid enough to take the bait. When the temptation to look became too great for her to resist, Tonks saw that they were still following her. With a nod from Hawlish, they dove.

The Death Eaters followed, apparently so driven to get them that they didn’t know or didn’t care they were being lured towards the ground below.

“Have you ever done this before?” Tonks asked.

“No. Have you?”

“Never.”

The ground was fast approaching. Tonks wasn’t sure how far she could go down before it was too late to pull up. But if she’d pulled up too soon, they’d pull up too and they weren’t going to get a second shot at this. She was going to have to risk it.

Her heart racing, Tonks and Hawlish pushed themselves forward.

“A little closer,” Hawlish said. “A little closer… Now!”

Tonks pulled her broom up with such strength she was afraid that she was going to flip herself over. Even so, the bottoms of her shoes brushed against the grass as she flew up. Distant from her, she heard screams suddenly silenced.

She whirled around. Dolohov had managed to keep himself from crashing, flying away. The other two hadn’t. No matter. It was still two fewer they had to deal with.

“Let’s get him,” Hawlish said, zoomin back after him.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, Tonks followed.

Windsor led those of them in the Great Hall out the doors and through the halls to the doors of Hogwarts.

Pansy fidgeted as they stood and waited. It was maddening, somehow even worse than the battle they were about to face, the waiting for it to happen.

“Some time you’ll have to tell me about everything you’ve been doing,” Scarlett said.

Pansy looked to see her sister smiling at her. All the things she’d always wanted to say to her sister, good and bad, flashed through her mind.

“Good to have you with us, Scarlett.”

The ground shook beneath Pansy’s feet and only her sister’s quick hand kept her on her feet.

“What was that?” Pansy asked as the pounding on the castle doors continued. “They can’t have a giant, can they?”

“He did the last time,” her father said gravely.

“Lovely,” Scarlett said. “And we stop a giant how?”

“Leave the giant to me, mein friends,” said Grindelwald. “You worry about whatever comes in with them.”

It wouldn’t be long. As the walls continued to shake, larger and larger chunks of the walls broke and fell around them.

With one final crash, the remains of the doors-as well as a good portion of the walls around came crashing down.

“Whatever you do, don’t let them get past you!” Windsor shouted. “You do not fall back!”

A tall order, Pansy thought, as what seemed like every Snatcher-more than even she had imagined-poured in from around the legs of the giants and filled the small amount the space left for them. Moody struck the ground with his staff, knocking the first wave to the ground, but the advantage was short lived and they were already clambering to their feet as the next line of them cast their spells.

Grindelwald said something in German that Pansy guessed was very rude as he stepped forward.

It had been legend for years among the people who still talked about the years Grindelwald was active that he had been the master of the Elder Wand. Of course, any sufficiently powerful wizard was rumored to have it by the type of person who read the Quibbler. Even the great and good Albus Dumbledore was said to have it by those daft enough to believe that the wand ever truly existed.

If Grindelwald had ever had it, and Pansy would never believe he did, he didn’t have it now and was none the weaker for it. With the slightest flick of his wrist, he conjured a whip from the tip of his wand. Pansy watched in awe as he struck at the ankles of the giant, sailing over the heads of their side and occasionally hitting a snatcher that happened to be in the way. Line after red line was cut in the giant’s legs. It reached for Grindelwald again and again, only to grunt in frustration as the old wizard danced away from its grasp. When this was all over, Pansy was going to get him to teach her that.

“Pansy!” her mother cried, breaking her from her momentary distraction just in time to see a red curse heading straight for her chest. Turning slightly, she let it hit Adwr’s jacket and bounce off. Her mocking boast was cut off with another equally pointless curse. 

Pansy’s own spell connected with him at the same as Scarlett’s and the two Parkinson girls sent him reeling back.

“Pay attention, Pans! I can’t protect you forever.”

“I can take care of myself,” Pansy said, casually blocking another curse from hitting her sister.

It would take her several months of time, at the very least, sitting in a pensieve for Pansy to understand all that happened in that battle. Side by side with Scarlett and back by their parents, the two of them carved out their own little circle of land.

Around them, in the flurry of spells, she got glimpses of the others. The Patil twins fending off a manticore. Windsor fighting a Death Eater she didn’t recognize. Even silly, ditzy Lavender Brown bravely dueling with Fenrir Greyback. She only caught snapshots of the battle with no real idea how they were faring or who was winning.

Pansy felt the sticky slickness of the stone floor beneath her and only then was she aware of the blood flowing on the ground from the legs of the giant. Grindelwald had kept at the creature, distracting it and keeping it from causing the mayhem Voldemort had no doubt hoped for. Now it was staggering, stepping quickly, trying and failing to keep its footing.

It had been grunting and shouting, with only the rare intelligible word coming through. Now it wailed, in pain and in anguish, waving its arms as it fell. The shouts, cut off when it collapsed, told Pansy that the giant had taken out some of the Dark Lord’s forces with it.

Their cheering was short lived. True, the loss of the giant must have been a great blow to them, but it allowed the other side to get in. Even now they were climbing over the giant’s body.

“You do not fall back!” Windsor called again.

The dark halls off the castle, lit normally only by the floating candles were lit up by spells of all colors. It was lucky for Pansy she had Adwr’s coat with her, because she didn’t have room to dodge spells, they were so crowded into the hall. It was a lucky thing they weren’t throwing too many Killing Curses. It must have taken too much power for them. The few they did cast she ducked, hoping no one behind her took it for her.

Keep yourself alive.

As they kept fighting to keep them from pushing through, a terrible realization came to her. They were losing. Slowly, steadily, they were being pushed it back and Voldemort’s army was getting a foothold. There seemed to be an endless number of them. Every one they took out, another climb over they’re body to take they’re place much faster than their own side when someone fell dead.

“We can’t let them get into the castle,” Pansy hissed at Scarlett.

She glanced to the side and a stab of envy shot through her. While she was nowhere near as good as Grindelwald, spry for a wizard better than halfway through his second century, her years of ballet had clearly paid. Tonks and the Deathly Saints’, brutish, pub fight dueling style was rubbing off on her.

“Follow me,” Grindelwald said.

“Should we get, Moody? Pansy asked.

“There isn’t time.”

And there wasn’t. Casting spells Pansy had never even heard of, the old auror was holding his own against half a dozen of the enemy with her parents by his side.

Without another thought, Pansy followed with Scarlett close behind.

“Wait for us!”

Pansy looked behind her. Tracy and Daphne, close enough to have heard him over the sounds of the battle, we’re following. She smiled and the five of them ducked away from the batlle.

“Have you ever been to Hogwarts,” Pansy asked. The way he was striding confidently through the halls, it certainly seemed as he had. But she’d never heard of it.

“Never, meine dame. But Albus wrote of it often. I think I could paint it perfectly, if I was asked.”

“Where are we going?” Scarlett asked.

“Here.”

He pushed on the wall and a door that hadn’t been there before swung open. Pansy gasp.

“Dumbledore trusted you enough to tell you about the secret passage?”

It was a hollow laugh that the old wizard gave them.

“Hardly. Albus could never trust me again after all that that I did. I hurt him very badly, I think. Though I don’t believe he ever stopped loving me. No, I’m not sure even he knew what he was describing when he wrote to me about Hogwarts. But I did. Durmstang has many such things come.”

It was early spring, though you wouldn’t know it with the chill in the air. The lights of spells flung from both sides lit up the sky and Pansy blanched at the full sight of what they were facing.

For months they had been talking about the Dark Lord’s army, but she’d always assumed it was a figure of speech. There were around thirty known Death Eaters, that’s what they’d told her. Tonks said she estimated around another twenty or so new recruits and about that many Snatchers. Figure in the Dementors and a handful of other dark creatures he had at his command, the DS had thought there were about a hundred total. Dangerous and powerful to be sure, but still a limited number.

They had been wrong. She’d known they’d been wrong once the battle had started, but this was beyond even that. What Pansy saw before them was an army in a very literal sense of the word. Pansy said one of the more colorful words she’d learned from Tonks.

“It is a bit less than ideal, yes,” Grindelwald said.

“A bit less than ideal?” Pansy said. “Half of the things in my Fantastic Beasts books are here to kill us!”

“Ugh,” Grindelwald grimaced. “Newt Scamander. What an asshole. He’s not here is he?”

“I don’t know,” Pansy shrieked, feeling she was missing something. “I don’t know what he looks like.”

“Pity. But that’s probably for the best. I don’t have time to settle the score. Right, here’s what’s were going to do.”

Lupin was missing when Tonks and Hawlish returned to the battle.

He’s fine, she told herself, as she scanned the sky looking for Dolohov. He was one Voldemort’s most dangerous servants. No way she was going to let him get away. If it was the last thing she did, she was going to kill him. She zipped through the battle, the ancient broom giving her it’s all as she tried find to him. 

A curse hit her in the side, knocking her from her broom, and sending her flying. The last thing she saw of the battle above and tried desperately to grab something she knew wasn’t there, was the face of Anton Dolohov.

Tonks fell through the sky. She righted herself, now facing down and in danger of finding out if one could throw up while in a free fall. Forcing the dizziness from her mind, Tonks scanned the sky. There was a chance to save herself. If only she could find her wand. But when she patted down her pockets, it was gone. It must have fallen out when she was hit

Panicking, she looked for it. There. She saw it, only a few meters below her. Tonks flailed, trying to force herself faster, closer.

You’re doing it wrong, a voice said inside her head. Like a broom.

Taking a few deep breaths, Tonks obeyed. Flattening herself as best she could, she pointed herself at an angle towards her wand. Thankfully, mercifully, it worked. She was getting closer and closer, finally able to reach out and grasp it again.

Tonks nearly wept.

She cast first a buoyancy charm before slowing her fall. She landed softly, bouncing lightly. The curse had blasted her far away from the castle and she’d landed near what was left of the old bridge. Adwr and Neville had done it.

“Good lads,” she muttered. She forced herself to look over the edge. There was no sign of them, not that she really could have seen that far anyway.

They had made it. They must have.

Turning her attention back to the castle, the battle was still raging on. Though far off in the distance, the battle might have been right in front of her as loud as it was. She couldn’t run, not yet, but she walked as fast as she could gaining speed as she went.

She was halfway there when she ran into him, literally, tripping over him as he crouched behind a rock.

“Oi!” a familiar voice said as she pulled herself to her feet and saw the face of Percy Weasley.

“Perce? What are you doing here?”

Grimacing at the name, he said, “The same thing as everyone else. And why shouldn’t I be here?”

Tonks shrugged. “I just thought you were still up the Ministry’s arse.”

“Yeah, well. I snapped out of it. I don’t expect you to believe me, but I was under the Imperius. Anyway, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Tonks nodded, crouching down beside him and throwing her arm around his shoulder.

“Yeah, Percy. You’re here now.” She peered out over the rock. “So why are you hiding out here then?”

“There’s just the one of me. I didn’t fancy flanking them by myself.”

“Well, now there’s two of us. Let’s go.”

She pulled him along with her back to the castle.

“What are we going to do?” Percy asked as he pulled free from her, but still followed her.

“We’ll worry about that when we get there.”

They made their way to the battle, keeping low as they went. Occasionally a stray spell would pass overhead, but Tonks took him on a wide path around the battle. She was hoping to avoid the fight until she had thought up a better plan than simply hexing anyone they came across.

“You didn’t see anyone else, by the way,” she asked. “Coming from where the bridge was?”

“The bridge? No. It was already gone when I got here. I had a job getting over it too, let me tell you. Why?”

“Nevermind. It’s not important right now.”

They had made it to the castle walls.

“What now?” Percy asked again, eying the battle ahead. “We’re not...we’re not just going to attack them, are we?”

“Unless you have a better plan? Don’t worry so much. We’re not going to die tonight. Just...just stay behind me, yeah? I’m the auror, after all.”

Percy didn’t argue with her.

Following Grindelwald’s lead, Pansy, Scarlett and her friends kept their shield’s up, covering him. They hadn’t liked his plan, to say the least. They argued against it, but in the end he won out. There were just too many of them. It was the only way they could see to win. The only way without losing everyone else in the process.

“Only I’ll be able to control the spell,” he told them again. “If I get got.”

“We get got too,” Tracy said. “We understand.”

“It’s been nice meeting you all.”

With his wand raised, Grindelwald cast the spell. At first nothing happened. Then, the ground began to shake. No. Not shake. Tremble. Then, it began to roll. Bubbles of earth popped out of the ground and exploded, sending mud and soil flying everywhere.

Pansy wouldn’t have believed it, didn’t believe when Grindelwald had described it for them. How he was going to smote the earth and make it boil. How he was going to have the earth swallow the army whole. No such magic had been seen since before the mythic age. And yet here it was.

It started small, tiny bubbles here and there, far too close for Pansy’s liking but never close enough that they were in danger of anything worse than mucked clothes. But as the old wizard strained, they grew and spread.

Moving slowly, the bubbles spread away from them heading towards the castle.

“Is it working?” Grindelwald asked, his voice as shaky as his spasming body. Daphne moved, grabbing him to keep him up.”

“No!” he yelled. “Just keep the shields up. Do it!”

Daphne had hesitated, but jump back at his order, casting the shield again as Grindelwald fell to his knees.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, his voice softer, gentler. “If this is to be my penance, so be it.”

Pansy watched in horror as the bubbling earth, still creeping along to the Hogwarts doors engulfed trees, boulders, bushes. Anything that had the misfortune of being in its path. She and Scarlett shared a look of horror. It had been easy for Pansy to think that anything that happened to the Death Eaters was too good. And it probably was. But it was still going to be a horrible way to die.

Setting her jaw, she nodded at Scarlett who nodded back and they turned back to watch. They had to be stopped. No matter what.

Then, all at once, the curses from the army stopped. Almost as quickly, they retreated. Almost as if they had dissolved into mist and for a moment, Pansy wondered if she had somehow missed the swallowing them. But no. It hadn’t yet reached them.

“We can’t have…” Pansy said. 

Scarlett, beaming, nodded. “We must have.”

“I don’t think so…” Grindelwald said slowly.

As soon as he said, Pansy felt it. She couldn’t have described it, not if she had been forced fed a gallon of veritaserum. There was something in the air that she could almost touch.

And then the voice. The same soft spoken, high pitched, affably cruel voice that had spoken to her, had asked her to betray her friends for some sick game of his own.

“You have fought valiantly,” he said. “Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately. 

“You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.”

Tracy and Daphne looked at Pansy.

“He’ll do it,” Daphne said. “Pansy, you’ll know he’ll do it. We can’t let him.”

Tracy scoffed. “Stop a Gryffindor from walking into a trap? Not bloody likely. Not that we can find him, anyway.”

“Then we’re just going to make sure he doesn’t need to. Daphne, go get all the Slytherins you can. Tracy, find Longbottom and get Dumbledore’s Army. Voldemort says he’s going to join the fray. Well,” Pansy smirked, “we’re going to take the fight to him first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting. I needed an extra week to recharge (battle scenes are always challenging for me). Hopefully there won't be another so close to the end, but we are in NaNoWriMo now, so I hope you'll bear with me if there is.
> 
> The battle in the sky (and likewise the earlier one) is inspired by my attempts to play flying games. For reasons too tedious to go into, my motor skills are spotty, so as as much fun as they are, they take me awhile and I never really get the hang of them. So while I can't usually shoot planes down on purpose in Battlefield 1, I can crash into them.
> 
> Pansy's musings about the Elder Wand were based on a scene from a couple of chapters ago that got cut for redundancy. Tonks was going to seek out Lupin for advice on the wand, but the whole thing ended up too repetitive as whole, so it got repurposed here. Of course, Pansy doesn't (yet) know the truth. Given the nature on conspiracy theories, I have to believe every powerful wizard and witch (though Dumbledore says in his commentary of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that no witch has ever claimed to own the Elder Wand) would be rumored to have it.
> 
> I do hope the reference to the Fantastic Beast movies wasn't too distracting. I couldn't resist. 
> 
> The bit with the bridge comes from the movie version of Deathly Hallows and is just good tactical sense. Grindelwald's attempt to get the earth to swallow the opposing army is based on Earthwitch, as short story by Patricia C. Wrede (Better known from Half-Magic and Dealing With Dragons). I read the story as a kid and it's one that's stuck with me about the nature of magic, so I highly recommend you check it out. It can be found in her collection The Book of Enchantments.
> 
> And of course, Voldemort's lines come straight from the book.
> 
> Thank you to all of my readers. As always, it warms my hard to see that click counter go up. I appreciate every read, kudos and comment. As a note to this week's commenter, I have edited the notes for chapter 15 to be more respectful to Mr. Barry. Thank you for correcting me. And a big thanks once again to every other commenter.
> 
> Next chapter, Pansy goes out to find the Death Eaters.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	29. Into the Fray

As one, Tonks and Percy let themselves breathe again. She hadn’t really had a plan for taking on the army, other than shooting off as many spells as she could before they got her.

They waited there, still low to the ground, until all of the army had retreated. Until they were certain it wasn’t some sort of trap. When they couldn’t stand waiting, they ran to what was left of the doors.

The sight that greeted them was both a relief and disheartening. From the damage done to the castle, they hadn’t been able to push very far inside. Their side had held Hogwarts.

But the rest of it.

Tonks had hoped that Voldemort had just been trying to rattle them when he talked about the dead and wounded. That, somehow, they’d escaped without any casualties.

It had been, as she’d heard Dumbledore say before, optimism to the point of foolishness.

The Weasleys were crowded around someone lying on the ground. Tonks blanched as Percy rushed to join his family.  _ Who? Which one? _

A girl she thought might have been Lavender brown was nursing a wound that looked horrifyingly like a werewolf bite. Bond was bleeding from her last remaining eye. McGonagall was carrying old Professor Flitwick. Even Filch was working double duty trying to tend to the wounded.

But of all the faces she saw, the most important one wasn’t there.

“Where’s Pansy? Hey!” She grabbed the shoulder of a passing girl. “Pansy Parkinson? Have you seen her?”

The girl shook her head. “She hasn’t been in the castle for months.”

Tonks choked. Pushing her way through the crowds, there were so many people laying lifeless on the floor. Every body she came up to, she was sure it was going to be Pansy.

_ Let her be alright _ , she pleaded with the universe.  _ Take anything else you want from me. But please, please, let Pansy be alive. _

She was crying, practically sobbing as she asked everyone tending to the wounded or giving the dead their due if they had seen her. None of them had.

She got to the end of the Great Hall, collapsing at the wall on the far end. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t make herself search the other side. Pansy was gone. If she was, someone would have seen. Someone would have told her. Pansy was gone. She curled up and bawled.

“Er...ma’am? Ma’am?”

Tonks looked up, unable to really see who was talking through her tears. It was a student, that was all she could tell.

“You said you were looking for Pansy Parkinson?”

Tonks sat up, hoping despite her despair and wiping her eyes. The boy was a 5th year Ravenclaw.

“Have you seen her? Is she ok?”

“I haven’t seen her.” Tonks’ heart sank again. “But I saw Tracy. Tracy Davis. She’s in Pansy’s year. She was getting all the Slytherins together. She said they were going out.”

“Going out? What does that mean? Going out where?”

“Out…” the boy trailed off. “Out there. She said they were going to try and get to the Death Eaters before Harry went.”

“She’s out there?”

“I don’t know, but that’s where all the other Slytherins are.”

“Thank you.” That was the only thing she took the time to say, standing to her feet.

Hogwarts, which seemed so completely, so desperately outnumbered just a few hours before, now seemed as packed as Tonks had ever seen it as she pushed her way back through to the doors. 

Pansy was alive. She knew it in her heart. She was probably the one who came up with this daft plan to hunt down the Death Eaters. It was exactly the sort of thing she’d try. 

As she looked around, Tonks saw the truth in the boy’s words. There were no Slytherins in the hall. Not the ones who were still on their feet. And they weren’t the only ones. There was a distinct lack of students at all. The 6th and 7th years especially. Tonks was willing to bet that if she could get her hands on that list Hermione had made, every one of the students unaccounted for, save for the Slytherins, would be part of Dumbledore’s Army.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going out there?” the gruff voice of Mad-Eye Moody said to her as she got to the door.

“I’ve got to,” she said. “Pansy’s out there.”

She turned to face her old mentor, resting on the wall.

“You really care about that girl, don’t you?”

“More than you know.”

“I think I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Moody said dryly. “You really are a daft girl, you know that don’t you?”

Tonks smiled, her eyes still edged with tears. “What do you say, old man? You want to come with me?”

“Somebody needs to back up Windsor. Just do me a favor and finish your shift.”

It was his most important instruction. Always finish your shift. Always come home.

She nodded.

“You too.”

She went to the doors, before stopping. She turned around and hugged him.

“Good to have you back, old man.”

“I never left.”

Smiling at him one last time, Tonks climbed over the ruins of the doors open and went in search of her girlfriend.

The combined forces of the Slytherins and Dumbledore’s Army crept through the No Man’s Land that was the Hogwarts grounds. Daphne hadn’t been able to find Longbottom. From what the other’s had told her, he and Adwr hadn’t come back from the bridge. Pansy tried not to dwell on that fact.

_ They’re fine. They’re alive. _

In lieu of Longbottom, Susan Bones was taking the lead of Dumbledore’s Army. Pansy didn’t know the girl very well, other than that she was clever enough for a Hufflepuff and that the boys thought she was nice to look at.

“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Susan said. They were walking side by side, far ahead enough of the students they were leading that they could talk without risking being overheard. Even so, Pansy had cast a secrecy spell.

“You know you weren’t going to sit around waiting for Voldemort to come for you.”

She rolled her eyes at how the girl cringed at the name, nevermind how she would have done just the same only a little while before. 

“I don’t suppose you have a plan.”

“Not really,” Pansy admitted. 

It was even worse than Susan knew. She’d at least thought they’d have Grindelwald with them to fight. Even Voldemort would have to fight for his life with him. But the effort of trying to swallow the army up into earth had drained him. Nearly killed him by the look of him. Scarlett had gone to take inside for healing, but hadn’t gotten back by the time the rest of them had joined. And they couldn’t afford to wait.

“Lovely.”

Pansy glared at her. “Well, what did you expect? Have you ever actually been in a real battle? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Well, let me tell you how it goes literally every time. We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose.

“Don’t worry,” she said more gently. “We’ll figure out something once we find them.”

In all honesty, Pansy was less worried about the Death Eaters and the Snatchers than she was about the dark creatures that were lurking about.

“How’s your patronus?” she asked.

“It’s not bad. We never tried it for real before. Hermione couldn’t find a boggart for us to practice on.”

Pretending she understood what that meant, Pansy said, “You might want to have that happy thought ready.”

Everything else, she thought, they could take care of. Unless he had a dragon or a nundu with him. Even a giant they could avoid. There wasn’t much hope against a dementor if none of them could cast the patronus.

They walked in silence until they reached the remains of the stone bridge. Adwr and Longbottom had done their work well. Where had they gone?

She ended the privacy spell on them as the rest of them caught up with them.

“Any good ideas for getting across?” Pansy asked.

“Not one that you’re going to like,” said Susan.

Sighing, Pansy steeled herself.

“Well, alright. Let’s hear it then.”

“We only need one of us to get across,” the girl said. “Once we get one of us on the other side, they can summon the rest of us across.”

“I didn’t think you could summon people.”

“You can’t,” Susan said. “But you can summon something they’re wearing.”

“That still doesn’t get us across. What are you doing?”

Susan was squinting, peer across the gorge to the otherside. 

“I’m looking for something big. Preferably a tree. If we can find out rooted enough, we can summon ourselves to it.”

“Or we could summon a tree to us and get killed,” Pansy said dryly.

Susan shot her a look. “Really? After getting us all together and coming out here,  _ that’s _ what you’re worried about?”

“I’m just saying we should think about this for a moment.”

“Fine.” Susan called over her shoulder. “Oi, Luna! Get over here.”

A doe-eyed blonde girl came over to join them. Pansy sort of recognized her from somewhere, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Can you use your levicorpus?” Turning to Pansy, Susan. “Luna’s got a mean levicorpus. Literally. Powerful enough to launch people into the air.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“It’s that or the tree,” Susan said. “Unless you know how to fly or how to conjure a bridge. You don’t, do you?”

“I do not,” Pansy admitted. “Fine.”

Getting herself as close to the ledge without risking fall off, she said, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“You’re going to go first.” Susan sounded more than a little impressed.

“Yes, may as well. At least I know this way I’ll actually get across. I don’t want to die when I lose my shoe half way across.”

Susan snorted. “I hope you don’t die, because you’re not as bad as you used to be. Luna.”

The effect of giving Susan a rude gesture was somewhat lessened by her being forced off the cliff and across the gorge. There was no doubt in Pansy’s mind. This was worse than flying. Her eyes clenched shut. No way she was going to look down. Forward. Up. Not a chance.

Her shoes skitted against the ground and lost her footing, falling backwards. It didn’t matter. She’d never been happier to fall on her arse in her life. Scrambling to her feet, she ran to the ledge.

The petty, Slytherin part of her that was still a 17 year old girl had a flash of summoning Susan by something embarrassing. But there’d be another time to settle the score.

“ _ Accio _ Susan’s shoe.”

The girl flew towards her and Pansy had to duck out of the way to colliding with her.

Helping her up, Panty said, “Graceful.”

“You fell too.”

Their glares broke and they started giggling.

“Come on, we need to get the others.”

Between Pansy and Susan summoning them and Luna magicking them, it wasn’t long before they’d gotten them all across. Still, it wasn’t going to be quick getting back across if they had to in a hurry.

Pansy and Susan shared a look. 

“I guess we’d better not need to escape quickly.”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there,” Pansy said.

They hadn’t gotten far from the bridge when they spotted him, a figure walking quickly about a quidditch away from them, heading to the forest.

“Harry!” Susan yelled when she recognized him. Harry looked over his shoulder, before continuing on his way, picking up speed.

“Keep it down,” Pansy hissed.

“But it’s-”

“I know, but if he’s trying to sneak up on them, we don’t want to give them away.”

“Oh,” Susan said. “Well, we still need to follow him. Come on, let’s hurry.”

Following Susan’s command, they picked up the pace as well, thought now more careful to not make too much noise.

They didn’t keep sight of him long. He disappeared into a patch of Dementor fog by the greenhouses. By the time they got through it, he was gone.

“Where did he go?” Susan muttered to herself.

“Does it matter?” Pansy asked. “We know where he’s going.”

“I want to get there before he does. I…” she looked Pansy in the eye, almost pleading with her. “I don’t want him to...to...to face him alone.”

Pansy looked away. The kind of loyalty Harry had inspired in Susan. In all of them. In her, in some small way. If she hadn’t been so nasty all those years, maybe she could have known what it was personally.

“He won’t,” Pansy promised. It had been her idea as well. To get there first and save him from trying to sacrifice himself. If they couldn’t do that, then at the very least they could fight with him.

They were just reaching the edge of the greenhouses when they saw the outline of another figure coming towards them through the fog. For a moment, Pansy even thought it was Harry.

But as the figure got closer, Pansy recognized her.

“Is that…”

Pansy nodded slightly, just enough so Susan could see her.

Coming towards them was Bellatrix Lestrange.

“Get them out of here,” Pansy murmured to Susan.

“And leave you here alone?”

“You’ve got to keep going. You have to stop him from sacrificing himself.”

“But all of us-”

“Just go. If you stay, it’ll just delay you. She hates me personally, she’ll try and kill me first.”

“Alright.”

Pansy stopped paying attention to Susan and the others. Whatever excuse she told them, she was always going to face Bellatrix down by herself, one on one if she could. 

It was her one chance for revenge.

Pansy waited, her wand drawn and at the ready as the witch approached, pleading silently to Merlin and Morgana and anyone else who was listening that she’d been right. That she’d leave the others alone in favor of playing with Pansy first. That Bellatrix hated her as much as she did.

An insane, wicked smile plastered across her face, Bellatrix did what Pansy wanted her to. Without even sparing a glance at the rest of the students, she skipped her way leisurely towards her. Pansy let her, too nervous to make the first move. Let her come to you, she told herself. Let her make the first move.

“I thought you had the brains to stay after you got away from the last time.” Her voice was high, sing-songy, mocking. It really was nothing more than a game to the woman. 

“I owed you one,” Pansy said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.  _ Embrace it. Turn your fear into rage _ .

“I owe you more. Do you know how displeased the Dark Lord was with me for letting you escape? Twice. I suffered quite a lot over you. I’m going to make you pay for it.”

Pansy raised her wand, turning as Bellatrix circled around her.

“Oh don’t worry. I won’t kill you. Not yet anyways. I want you around to see what I do to your friends.”

Visions of all the torment Bellatirx would gladly inflict on her friends if given the opportunity. _Don’t let her get to you. Don’t let her get to you._ _She’s just trying to make you lash out. Don’t let her get to you._

“Especially that ickle niece of mine. I heard about what happened to her mother’s pet muggle. Maybe you can help me deliver her body to my sister. What do you say?”

Pansy’s hand, the wand that didn’t have her wand, clenched as she set her jaw, her eyes fixed on Bellatrix. She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t going to say anything.

The witch went dead silent as well. She wasn’t used to people defying her, not blubbing at her feet.

“You’re a rude young lady,” Bellatrix said in a low, dangerous tone. “Such manners. Didn’t your mother teach you anything? I asked you a question.”

“Eat me,” Pansy said, a phrase she’d learned from an argument between Tonks and Bond.

With a flick of her wrist, Bellatrix wordlessly cast a red spell. A Cruciatus. Pansy shifted slightly, letting it hit her jacket and bounce off.

“What was that in aid off?” Pansy asked, giving the witch a defiant smile. Turn it around. Make her angry.

She tried again. Once again it failed.

“Little baby has some tricks,” Bellatrix mocked, but it didn’t ring true. Pansy could tell she was getting angry.

_ Just a bit more _ .

She threw a spell that Draco had taught her once, not long before the night he got the Death Eaters into the castle. A particularly nasty cutting curse. Looking back, he must have been afraid she’d get caught into the fight that night.

“ _ Sectumpsempra _ !”

Bellatrix dodged out of the way, but not quite enough. The spell struck the witch in the arm. She howled in pain.

Pansy cast a quick shield charm, in case the next spell the witch threw at her was too powerful to be blocked by the jacket. Instead, Bellatrix scratched the word “COME” in red, fiery letters into the sky. With another wave of her wand, she banished the word, sending them off in a different direction than the one she’d come from. Closer to the lake.

Turning back around, she kept her wand pointed towards Pansy, reaching into her robes with her free hand.

“As much as I’d like to have you all to myself, it would be too bad of me to deny the others their fun.”

A glint of steel in the moonlight caught Pansy’s eye. Bellatrix had drawn a dagger from its sheath.

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t play with you while we wait.”

She tried to keep her distance from the woman, but Bellatrix was too fast for her. Pansy grappled with her, keeping her away. The woman had given up trying to curse her in favor of trying to stab her. Maybe that was just more personal for her. The slashes were getting closer and closer to hitting their mark and slicing through Pansy’s skin. She needed to find a way to get the knife from her.

A witch who could fight with her hands had an advantage over one who couldn’t if the duel was close enough. That’s what Tonks had said way back at the start of her training. Pansy had scoffed at her at the time for entertaining such a ridiculous notion. Pansy would have to apologize later. As powerful as Bellatrix was as a witch, she was no match for the physical strength Pansy possessed. Bellatrix raised her dagger to stab at Pansy and Pansy caught her at the wrist. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break free from Pansy’s grasp.

Pansy kicked and flailed and pushed with her one free hand. Keeping the woman from stabbing her would do no good with her still on top of her. Even now Bellatrix was making a play for Pansy’s throat. She punched Bellatrix in her throat. The coughing sputtering fit it sent her into was enough to weaken the woman’s hold on her.

Keeping Belltrix’s knife wrist well away from her, Pansy pushed, rolling the woman underneath her. Bellatrix reached for her wand, her fingers nearly curling around it before Pansy snatched it away.

“This. No, no, no. You don’t deserve this.”

Pansy slammed the wand straight down into ground, snapping it into. She threw the pieces in the witch’s face.

“It’s over. You’ve lost. I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else ever again.”

Bellatrix roared in fury. The look in her eyes could barely even be called human. She pushed Pansy off her with such ferocity, her body left the ground entirely. By the time she picked herself up, Bellatrix was already charging for her.

Pansy ran towards her. Even if she could have found her own wand in time, she wouldn’t have. She was half-crazed herself, as mad as the Death Eater. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. How she wanted this to end.

Bellatrix slashed at her and a sting told her she might have caught the blade with her cheek. It didn’t matter. She tackled her, falling to the ground with her. This time she didn’t let up. Grabbing her wrist again, she slammed into the ground again and again, not caring that her own knuckles were getting bruised and scraped in the process. She kept going and going until finally the dagger finally fell from her hands.

The witch did not go easy, trashing and trying desperately to get free and get her weapon. Pansy didn’t let her. Holding Bellatrix down, choking her, Pansy groped around the ground until her fingers curled around the dropped dagger and her lips twisted into a cruel smile.

The woman struggled as slowly, deliberately raised the dagger over her head. Pansy squeezed her neck tighter. 

Bellatrix, who had tortured the Longbottoms to insanity. Bellatrix, who had brought her sister to see the most evil wizard who had ever lived. Bellatrix, who was the author of too many tragedies for anyone to ever count.

“No more,” Pansy whispered. She drove the blade into the woman’s chest without mercy and without remorse. And again. And again. And again. She lost count how many times she stabbed Bellatrix. Long after she was dead, to be sure.

When she finally snapped out of her rage, Pansy dropped the dagger. She fell backwards off the woman’s lifeless body. Her hands were covered with blood.  _ She _ was covered with blood. She looked around. Everybody was gone, having followed her orders to go find the rest of the Death Eaters. She sighed in relief. No one would have to know. Finding her wand, she cleaned herself up.

Tonks jumped at the sound of clomping feet, whirling around with her wand at the ready, only to find one of the suits of armor heading back in the direction of the castle. She let out a breath, trying to calm her racing heart. The battle had been mostly contained at the doors of Hogwarts, but it had bled over into grounds as well. All around her, remnants of the battle in the air were scattered around her. Broken brooms and broken bodies.

She tried to force herself not to look, to keep going forward. The temptation was too great.

Almost immediately, her eyes locked on to a pair of bodies side by side.

“No! No, no, no!” She pleaded as she ran to their side. Lying before her were the Lupins, their hands clasped together.

Tonks choked back a sob, trembling as she closed their eyes.

“Good night, you two. Travel well.”

Hoping not to see any more of her friends as she went along her way, Tonks carried on.

She hadn’t found them by the time she’d made it to the stone bridge. What was left of it anyways. She saw no trace of Adwr or Nevile. No sign that they’d made it to safety after collapsing the bridge, but no sign of their bodies either. Steadying herself, Tonks looked over the edge. Nothing but an inky blackness.

“They’re ok. They made it out,” she told herself.

Tonks summoned one of the brooms from the field behind her. She mounted it and gave it a few test loops to make sure it hadn’t been damaged too much in the crash. It shook and shuttered and she definitely wouldn’t take it long distances, but it would hold her for the hop.

Even so, she held her breath for the entirety of the short flight, her hands gripping the handle tight, trying to calm it. More damaged than she thought, it inched its way forward.

She left it lying there on the ground on the other side. She wasn’t going to be stuck there if things went wrong and the broom couldn’t be trusted to survive more than another trip across. If it could even survive that. Besides, as slow as it was going, it wouldn’t be much faster than walking.

Tonks kept going.

Pansy only made it a little bit further before collapsing to the ground sobbing. She had deserved it. Bellatrix had deserved it. So why did she feel so terrible for it?

She forced herself to recount again all the things Bellatrix had done just to her personally, trying to make herself angry. Trying to justify it.

She was still cradling herself when she heard the wolfish howl echo across the grounds. How close was it, she thought as she scrambled to her feet. Too close for her liking. And she needed to get to Harry, to find the others. Fighting to remain calm, Pansy walked down the path.

There was another how and another after that. It was getting closer and Pansy, gripping her wand, had an idea of who and what it was.

She didn’t run, not yet. It was something her grandmother had told her. That it wasn’t really a chase until you started running. Of course, she’d been teaching her how to not get captured by the fair folk. Still, Pansy quickened her step and kept glancing over her shoulder. At the very least, he wasn’t sneaking up on her.

She wasn’t that far from the fork she’d have to take to go to the Forbidden Forest when she heard it again. Her heart stopped as a stick crunched behind her. Trembling, she made herself look behind her and had her fear confirmed. Following her, not a hundred feet away behind her, was a werewolf.

She turned around slowly, her mind flashing back to her third year. How did you kill a werewolf? Snape had spent months teaching them about werewolves. He must have said how to kill them, at least once. 

The wolf snarled and Pansy shrieked, casting a spell in her panic that shot over the beast’s shoulder as she fell back to the ground.

It was just about the worst scenario Tonks could have imagined, the sight of Pansy on the ground backing slowly from the hulking werewolf standing over her. Snarling, he snapped at her, getting close to her but never biting her. Tonk had never heard of anything like it, a werewolf human enough to toy with its food.

Tonks raised her wand and shot off two loud spells, startling both the werewolf and her girlfriend.

“Tonks!” Pansy cried.

The werewolf turned from the girl to face Tonks. Greyback. She’d know him anywhere. The aurors had pictures of him in both his human and his wolf form. It was him. That was the man who murdered her father.

Standing fast as the beast ran at all fours for her, Tonks raised her wand. 

“Tonks!” Pansy cried again. “What are you doing? Get out of here!”

Tonks wasn’t sure what spell it was she cast. She wasn’t even sure it was a real spell. She just willed her wand to do what she wanted and it happily obeyed.

A small ball of solid silver materialized around the tip of her wand and shot forward, striking Greyback straight through the chest. She was already running to Pansy when the body hit the ground.

“Are you ok?” she asked, helping her up.

“I think so.”But blood was dripping from her cheek.

“You’re hurt!” She said, tracing her fingers over the cut. “He didn’t…?”

“No, that was...that was from earlier. What did you do?”

Tonks shrugged. “It was something I saw in a movie my dad showed me once. How you can only kill a werewolf with a silver bullet.”

“I don’t think werewolves are actually hurt by silver,” Pansy said.

“He seems pretty dead to me.”

“Most things react poorly to having a hole in their hearts.”

“Whatever,” Tonks murmured, pulling her girlfriend into her arms. I thought… I thought…”

“I’m fine,” Pansy said. “I...I think I did something terrible.”

“I don’t care.” Cupping Pansy’s cheek in her hands, she kissed her hard. Pansy melted into her embrace.

“How long has it been?” Tonks asked, breaking the kiss and leaving Pansy gaping for a moment. “Since Voldemort spoke. Has it been an hour?”

Pansy gasped. “I saw him! Tonks, I saw him. I saw Harry! He was going to face Voldemort.”

“He hasn’t come back yet?”

“I haven’t seen him. The others were going after him.”

Her face twisting as she struggled to control her emotions, Tonks nodded.

“Then it’s to us then.” She took Pansy’s hand. “Let’s finish this.”

Hand-in-hand, they followed after the Slytherins and Dumbledore’s Army.

The students were nearing the edge of the forest when Tonkas and Pansy found them. Their first instinct to run to join them, they ducked behind a rock as the figures appeared from the trees. Him first. Voldemort leading his entourage with him. A couple of Death Eaters were with him. One of them might have been Narcissa Malfoy. Tonks couldn’t be sure at that distance. Next was the giant form she recognized as Hagrid. Sobbing, he was cradling something in his giant arms.

No, not something. Some _ one _ .

Pansy gasped, realizing who Hagrid was carrying at the same Tonks did.

Voldemort pointed his wand to his throat. He was going to speak again.

“Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together.”

Tonks and Pansy shared a look.

“He’s lying,” Pansy said. “He’s lying.”

Harry. Her dad. Remus. Emmeline. Adwr and Nevile for all she knew. Merlin knew how many more. And that was just tonight.

It was something that Tonks had never imagined for herself, not at even her most gung-ho. But who else was there?.

“Are you ready?” Tonks asked.

Pansy nodded.

“You know what I’m going to do?”

“I do.”

Tonks gave her a weak smile. “Tell me that another time, if we get through this.”

Pansy stole a kiss. “We will. And if we don’t, we’ll still be together.”

They stepped forward, walking with more confidence than either of them had any right to feel.

The students, the Slytherins and what was left of Dumbledore’s army was standing before Voldemort. More Death Eaters were gathering around him. Both sides were too focused on one another to notice their approach.

“Love you,” Pansy said, giving Tonks’ hand a tight squeeze.

“Love you too. Cover them.”

Her plan had been to sucker curse him. To try and get in a clean shot while he wasn’t looking, but she was too far away for her to be sure of getting him. And the way his army was looking at the students, she wasn’t going to get enough time to get there first.

“Oi! Voldemort!” she shouted. The thought that  _ really _ hoped she’d get to laugh at the absurdity of that one day flashed through her mind, before fading away when he turned to look at her.

“Who dares address me?” He asked.

“Auror Tonks, with the Ministry of Magic.” She raised her wand. “I’m placing you under arrest.  You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

Tonks wasn’t sure what reaction she was expecting to get from her farcical attempt to arrest him. She had only said it to buy herself sometime and to get a bit closer into killing range. Whatever it was, it wasn’t the laughter that came from the Dark Lord’s mouth. It would have almost been comical if she wasn’t certain it was going to be the last thing she ever heard.

“Tonks?” Voldemort said, feigning confusion. “Ah, yes. I believe your father had the misfortune of running into my snatchers.

“Still, you’re a brave young woman. Lord Voldemort knows how to reward bravery. Come. Join me and you will be given a place of honor. Bring your friend with you.”

“No.” She cast a cutting curse at him, aiming for his neck.

Sweeping his whole wand arm, he blocked the spell with ease.

“You’ll regret that.  _ Avada Kedavra! _ ”

Tonks pushed Pansy back with one arm, stepping in front of her and blocking it.

Tonks raised her eyebrows, shooting him a mocking smile. “Try again.”

And he did. And with each successive attempt, she blocked it again, stepping closer with each one. All signs of battle had stopped as both sides gazed in awe of the duel. 

“How are you doing this?” Voldemort demanded, half-mad with rage as he failed to kill her yet again. They were a mere few feet away from each other. More than enough to take him out.

She gave him a lazy shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe Magic is just as sick of you perverting it as the rest of us.”

Voldemort roared.

“Kill her! Kill all of them!”

There was only a moment’s pause before all at once, spells flew in the air around her. It was all she could do to stop herself from getting hit.

“You’re not going to get him alone,” Pansy said from beside her. How long has she been there? “You keep us alive. I’ll kill him.”

As Tonks opened her mouth to answer, a jet of green light zoomed past her, striking Pansy square in the chest.

“Pans-”

But the name died on her lips. Tonks choked. Pansy hadn’t fallen, hadn’t died. She just stood there, looking up at her with as much confusion and relief as Tonks felt. The curse had bounced right off her.

Tonks whirled around to see the same scene playing out over and over again. Spells from the Death Eaters refused to stick, deflecting off the students.

“How?” Tonks said, half-gasping.

“It was Harry,” Pansy said. “It had to be. He did something before he died.”

Tonks’ eyes moved other the scene, failing to spot either Hagrid or Harry.

“For Harry, then.”

“For Harry.”

No with even less to fear from the killing curse, they walked into the battle. Very few of the Death Eaters were still fighting for Voldemort. Most of them were fleeing, escaping into the woods hopefully to be painfully devoured by whatever monsters lurked in there. The ones that weren’t, were still futilely trying to hex, so far gone into pureblood elitism that they evidently couldn’t even attempt to fight them any other way.

Voldemort was standing there as slack jawed as Tonks had been when she’d seen Pansy survive the killing curse. Everything was falling apart around him and he couldn’t even begin to process it.

“Oi, Voldemort!” Tonks shouted again. “ _ Avada Kedavra _ .”

Maybe out of desperation, maybe on instinct, the Dark Lord tried to block her spell.

It didn’t work. The spell struck him and his body hit the ground. And all at once, the war was over.

Pansy placed her hand on Tonks’ cheek, pulling it to face her.

“We did it,” she said, smiling and almost hyperventilating. “We did it!”

There was nothing else for Tonks to say and so she didn’t. She simply pulled Pansy to her.

Around them there was cheering and celebrating. The last of Voldemort’s army was fleeing, chased by those brave enough and angry enough to keep fighting. None of that mattered to Tonks. All there was, was Pansy’s kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, the final battle in the story. It went through a lot of iterations in the writing process and mostly pleased with how it finally turned out.
> 
> While the broad strokes of the finale have stayed the same since I first imagined this fic (for example, Pansy was always going to stab Bellatrix (not that I telegraphed that at *all*)), a great latter day influence was the movie 1917, especially the final trench run. You can see shades of it in the scene where Tonks thinks she's lost Pansy only to find out there's still a chance.
> 
> One big concern I had while writing this was how much thunder to take away from Harry. But this had already crossed the line from the Hero of Another Story trope over into true canon divergent status. S0, in the end, I settled on finishing the battle the way it deserved. By having Pansy and Tonks follow their arcs.
> 
> The chapter went through a couple of different working titles, both musically-inspired: "The Night They Drove the Dark Side Down" (dropped for not being terribly accurate) and "All These Things That I've Done" (I want to say that for later).
> 
> Other than that, there are a fair few references. "Author of tragedies" is borrowed from Spectre. "Good night, travel well," is something I personally say to the deceased, but it's lifted from a song by the same name by the Killers. Pansy's rant about plans not working belonged to Harry in the movie. And Voldemort's victory speech is from the book. Luna's levicorpus is how the spell worked in the Order of the Phoenix movie.
> 
> Oh and, incidentally, Tonks' arrested spiel is what Google tells me is the British version of the Miranda Warning.
> 
> One more chapter left, the epilogue, where we'll wrap things up and look to the future.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	30. Epilogue: 7 Years Later

Though she had grown up with magic all her life and had been to Diagon Alley more times than Pansy could remember, Emily still acted as if it was the first time whenever she conned her mothers into taking her shopping with them. Pansy couldn’t blame her. 11 years old-11 and 11/12ths, as her daughter was kind enough to remind them whenever she got it wrong-and she had only just stopped sulking over not going to Hogwarts last year when Pansy and Tonks had announced yesterday they’d need to get her things.

Tonks hadn’t been able to come. No matter how many times she swore at the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she wasn't able to change the schedule. So it was just Pansy and Emily that day.

“Oh, dear!” Pansy said, pretending to thumb through her purse. “We seem to have forgotten your list. I guess we’ll have to go home and come back another day.”

She let out a long suffering sigh, sneaking a glance at Emily to see if she was buying her teasing. She wasn’t.

“I have it here, mum,” Emily said, shoving a copy of the list into her hands. Pansy raised her eyebrow.

“And where did you get this, young lady? You haven’t been “borrowing” my wand again, have you?”

“No!” Emily said, shaking her head. “Uncle Hawke made it for me.”

“He did, did he?” It was one of the least disruptive things he had ever shown her daughter. “Well, that was very nice of him.”

Smiling, she tousled Emily’s hair. “You’d probably mu-”

She caught herself. She was never quite sure how her daughter would react to any mention of death, given what had happened to her parents in the war. Mostly Pansy avoided the subject, knowing full well that one day they wouldn't be able to put off certain conversations any longer. But she was already preparing for that moment.

“You’d be a right terror if I put this off another day. Wicked child.”

Emily stuck her tongue out at her.

“Don’t let your grandmother see you do that. She’ll hex your mouth away.”

“She knows how to do that?”

“Mmm hmm,” Pansy said with a nod. “She did it to me once or twice.” Or half a dozen. Mostly after she had graduated.

“What did you do?” Emily’s voice was low, conspiratorial.

“Oh, who remembers?” She had called her mother a “lying cow.” In her defense, her mother was being a lying cow. She’d seen her pensieve.

“Come along,” she said, squeezing her daughter’s hand.”Lots to buy.”

If she had had her way, Emily would have dragged Pansy straight to Ollivander's to get her wand, but Pansy insisted on getting everything else on her school list first. So Emily had to be patient through a fitting at Madam Malkin's, through dozens of shops, getting supplies and books and lunch. By the time they began heading to Ollivander's, she was so excited and frustrated she was ready to burst.

Pansy had been to the shop many times over the years, consulting the family on various projects since leaving the aurors. Sometimes with Tonks with her, but usually on her own. And never with Emily.

“Is this it, mummy?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Pansy knelt down to look her daughter in the eye.

“After I introduce you to Mr. Olivander, I’m going to leave you alone while you get your wand.”

“Why?”

“Because your wand choosing you is a very personal moment and giving privacy is good form," she said, repeating the words he'd said to her when she was 11. Don’t worry, he’s a very nice man. And he’ll tell you everything you need to know. Alright?”

She looked more than a little nervous, but she put on a brave face. She’d gotten that from Tonks. Blinking back tears, Pansy pulled her into a tight squeeze.

“I wish your parents were here to see this,” she murmured into her daughter’s ear. “They would have been so proud of you. Just like we are.”

She pulled back and snorted. Her daughter was feeling nothing more than impatience.

“Of course. Wand time. Alright, ignore your poor mother’s feelings.”

Winking at her, she took her hand and led her into the shop.

If she hadn’t known any better, Pansy would have guessed that wrinkled, old Olivander had a philosopher’s stone. Or unicorn’s blood. Something. He hadn’t aged a day.

He beamed at her the moment they walked in.

“Ah, Pansy Parkinson. “Hawthorn and dragon heartstrings. 13 ¾ inches. Maybe not _quite_ so rigid as I thought, hmm?”

Pansy smiled back.

“Maybe not.”

“Bah! I was right about everything else I said. I’ve got a better track record than the Sorting Hat himself!”

“And who might you be,” he asked, turning his attention to the girl with her.

“Go on,” Pansy prodded.

“Emily, sir. Emily Beauregarde.”

“What a lovely name. Let’s see what we can find for you today.”

“You be good for Mr. Ollivander,” Pansy told her sternly as the wand seller called back for his own children to bring him this wand and that. “I’ll just be at Flourish and Blott’s.”

She was almost at the door when she stopped and turned back. She so wanted to tell her daughter what she had needed to hear back then. _You don’t have to tell me what he says. But I hope you know that you can._

She couldn’t bring herself to say it. She couldn’t influence it. So she just nodded at her daughter who was paying her no attention.

Pansy made it halfway the block towards the bookstore when she stopped again. Looking around, as if she believed Tonks was lurking around and checking up on her. Satisfied that she or no one who would tattle to her was around, she pulled a pack out of her purse.

She had promised Tonks she would cut back on the smoking. And she had. But sometimes she just needed one and this was one of those times. It had been one hell of a time, the last few years.

 _The shop can wait,_ Pansy decided. Her project had, after all, waited that long. It could stand a bit longer. And she never got to just wander Diagon Alley anymore, by herself. And she had time. Cigarette in hand, she turned around and walked in the other direction.

The Alley was positively alive. More than it had in ages. It was mostly filled with the new batch of first years and other students, dragging their parents through the streets. She gave a friendly wave to the people she knew. Neville Longbottom hand-in-hand with Hannah Abbott, smiling brightly enough to outshine the rock on her finger. Daphne, hanging off the arm of the still hopelessly dishy Charlie Weasley, was far too busy to stop and chat but made the sign to floo her.

She walked as far back as Madam Malkin’s before stopping, leaning against the wall and finishing off the last of her cigarette. She glanced over. Some of the older students coming out ofMadam Malkin’s, puffing themselves up over the long coats the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher required them to buy for their shield training, were giving her a bit of attention. Pansy gave them a wink, unsure if they were ogling her or the thick staff in her hand.

Beaming, Pansy crushed the butt of her cigarette underneath her shoe and headed back.

She had perfect timing, to the point that she wondered if that was another part of the magic of the place. Emily was just taking the parcel that must have held her new wand from Mr. Ollivander when she walked in.

“Mummy!” Emily cried, bouncing over to her and throwing her arms around her.

“I take it one found you?”

“ _Finally_! It took ages for Mr. Ollivander to find one for me. We must have tried a hundred!”

“Is that so?” She said, pulling out the coins she owed the man. “Was that more than mine?”

Mr. Ollivander shrugged, but his sly smile confirmed her suspicions.

“She was a _particularly_ challenging match, but I think it will serve her well.”

Pansy bit back all of the questions she might have.

“And your staff, Mrs. Parkinson? Still serving you well?”

“Better than ever,” she said proudly, holding it out for him to take.

“One day I’m going to have a staff,” Emily declared.

“I’m sure you will,” Ollivander said, not looking up. He was too intent on his work.

“Hmph,” he said. “You should take better care of it.”

“I take plenty good care of it!”

“Since your retirement, maybe.”

They glared good naturedly at each other. Pansy had gotten to known him and his family in the years since she’d left the aurors and started out on her own. He was almost a friend.

“At polish it up. Make it look presentable. A staff will serve it’s mistress well if it’s well looked after.”

Pansy stuck her tongue out at him, must to the delight of her daughter.

“I’m telling grandma!”

“But if you tell her, how will you eat all of the ice cream I’m going to buy you? You have a lovely day, Mr. Ollivander.”

She had to say it over her shoulder, Emily was already dragging her to the door. She skipped the whole way to Fortescue’s old shop.

“Mummy, can I have a sundae?”

“Only a small one. We’re going out for dinner later, remember.”

But even so, Emily talked her into sharing the largest sundae they had, while she happily told her everything that had happened in the wand shop.

The End  
  
(Pansy and Tonks will return)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are-finally-at the end. I really didn't mean for it to take another two weeks. Partly family issues came up, but mostly I kept feeling that it needed to be longer. It turns out that, after 140,000+ words and more than 620 pages on my computer, I didn't have much more to say in this fic.
> 
> When I started this, I had an idea for a follow up. You can seen hints of it hear and in the last few chapters. With some fates left unspecified and Tonks still holding the Elder Wand. I have been wary of mentioning it in the notes, because I wasn't sure that, after everything, I'd still want to write it. Well, I'm happy to say that the follow up-tentatively titled "How Things Were After the War" (almost certainly to be changed) will go forward. It will pick up about where the previous chapter left off. Don't expect it at least until May. I need to time to outline and get a few chapters under my belt before I start posting. 
> 
> The only reference I think I made was borrowing Hagrid's, "Lots to buy" from the first movie. While it's not mentioned, the end song in my mind for this is "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns 'n' Roses.
> 
> For the last time on this fic, thank you all for reading, hitting kudos and commenting. I hope to see you again when we continue.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally attempting a full length story. This is an idea that's been rattling around my head for years now, so I'm excited to see it realized.
> 
> As I've said before, Pansy is fun to write. She's such a good foil for the main cast. This the first time I've explored a young pansy (sticking pretty heavily to the Stations of the Canon). So we'll see how she develops.
> 
> This chapter was meant to echo the first book. The Sorting Hat's song and the Fat Friar's lines were taken directly from the Sorcerer's Stone. Likewise, Gemma Farley's lines are from Pottermore. Other lines like "you look all hot and bothered" and "how very wrong she was" come from there too, but were recontextualized. There may be more. If I find them, I'll list them here. In the meantime, if it looks like J.K. Rowling's, it's probably not mine.
> 
> This is the only chapter that takes place in Pansy's 1st year. The next chapter will pick up after the Half-Blood Prince.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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